


Persona 4: Naoto Verson

by Naoto120



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-21
Updated: 2015-07-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 02:00:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 61,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3792382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naoto120/pseuds/Naoto120
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a retelling of Persona 4 with Naoto as the protagonist. Rated M for safety.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Don’t worry,” my grandpa says to me after giving me my final hug before I enter the train. “I’ll only be gone a year.” _Only?_ I think to myself. _How could you possibly classify a year away as only?_

“I know, I’ll be fine,” He gave me a warm smile.

“I know you will. Just be careful, okay?” I sigh. I know that he is just looking out for me, but whenever he says things like that it makes me feel like a child.

“I know, I-“

“Now boarding for YasoInaba.” The voice cut me off.

“Oh. I guess that’s my signal to part.” I can feel my face getting warmer. _No, I mustn’t cry. That would be juvenile._ To my surprise, when I looked back up to my grandpa’s face, it looks just as red as I suspect mine is.

“Right.” He gave me a smile that I believe is him trying to not shed tears. “You should get going then.” His eyes stared right bake into hers. “Good luck,” He added.

“I should be the one saying.’ I turn my head towards the train. “I really need to go now.”

“Goodbye then.”

“Goodbye, Grandpa.” Before I can walk away I feel his arms around me again of one last hug. Even though I now I could be late now I welcome the new warmth. After he pulls away again, I part without another word and enter the train and quickly find a seat.

After I sat down, I quickly adjusted myself to get comfortable and began reading my book. Since the book is only 178 pages long, I’m worried I will finish it all before the train reaches Inaba. I’ll be staying there for the next year with a friend of Grandpa’s, Ryotaro Dojima. I’ve never met him, but Grandpa says that he is a very intelligent and trustworthy friend. I am not worried about the fact that I’m staying with a total stranger. This is not the first time I have had to do so. It is, sadly, the longest time. That’s okay, though. I’m used to it.

 

* * *

 

                My mind feels foggy as I opened my eyes to see that I am in a very blue room. _How did I get here? I must have fallen asleep. Weird, I have no memory of doing so._

“Welcome to the Velvet Room.” The sudden voice surprises me as my eyes focus on the two humanoid figures in front of me. The voice, I speculate, comes from the man in the center with strangely pointy ears and an even stranger long nose. _Velvet Room? I’ve never heard of a place called the velvet room. Why would I dream of this place? And why am I so lucid in the first place._

“Ah… It seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny…” He concluded his sentence with a chuckle one could only describe a creepy. _Intriguing destiny? What could he possibly be talking about? I mean, I know I’m fifth in line of a family of detectives, but why is this man so interested in me? And why am I taking any of this seriously anyway?_ “My name is Igor.” The strange man continues. “I am delighted to make your acquaintance.”

“Where am I?” I try to ask. Sadly, I realize that I cannot speak. _What? Why can’t I speak? This is my dream. I should be able to do whatever I want._

“This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter,” the man who calls himself Igor says as if his words make any sense. “It is a room only those bounded by a contract may enter.” _What? I never signed a contract. Why am I here then?_ “It may be that a similar fate awaits you in the near future.” _Wait, did he just answer my question?_ “Now then, why don’t you introduce yourself?”

“Naoto Shirogane.” I say. _Wait, I just spoke._ I hurriedly try to say something else but my voice is gone once again.

“Hm… I see.” His voice makes it seem as if he is unimpressed. “Now then, let’s take a look into your future, shall we?” _Wait, you can see into the future now? This is just ridiculous._ He moves for the first time since my arrived. His hand floats above the table sat in front of him as a ball of blue light appears underneath it. “Do you believe in fortune telling?” _No._ I want to say. Igor makes a strange gesture with his had causing seven cards to appear. “Each reading is done with the same cards but the result is always different. Life follows the same principles, doesn’t it?” Despite the fact that his words are what many would call philosophical nonsense, this is the most sense he has made the entire time.

He flips his hand over causing the one of the cards to follow his movements. It shows what I immediately recognize as a tarot card. _That’s the tower I think._ I’ve never taken the time to look into any form of fortune telling. It’s all too farfetched for my liking.

“Hm… The tower in the upright position represents the immediate future.  It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent.” _Wait, if I don’t know much about tarot cards then how does a person in my dream seem to know everything? There’s no way what he’s saying is real._ “The card indicating the future beyond that is...” His hand flips over yet another card. _The moon._ “The Moon, in the upright position.” _Yes, I got it._ “This card represents ‘hesitation’ and ‘mystery’… Very interesting indeed.” _SO first he tells me that a catastrophe is happening and then that what happens after is a mystery? Great._  “It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you.

“In the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost.” Despite the morbidness of his words, the strange man’s frightening smile never left his face. “My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen.” He swipes his and over the cards subsequently causing them to vanish. “Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you.” I almost forgot that she was even there. The blue-clad woman had sat very lady-like the entire time with both of her hands placed on top of a book on her lap. This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself.”

“My name is Margaret. I am here to accompany you through your journey.” The first thing I make note of is the fact that her voice sounds very mature.

“We shall attend to the details another time.” _Another time? Why are you so sure I’m coming back?_ “Until then, farewell…” Before I could even react, the world around me went dark.

“When I came back to I found myself back on the train. _So I was correct in my assumption. That was a dream._ As I went to check the time on my phone, I saw a Risette commercial. Looking back at my phone, I saw that my phone was still displaying the message sent to me from my soon-to-be guardian. “Meet us outside Yasoinaba Station at 4PM,” it reads.  Before my eyes even reached the clock, a voice rings throughout the train.

“We will arrive at the Yasogami terminal in a few minutes. Passengers headed for Inaba City and Yasoinaba station, please go to the other side of the platform,” It says. I quickly stand up, grab my bag, and do as the voice instructed. Upon exiting the train, I’m met with a screen displaying a news program discussing the scandal surrounding Taro Namatame. _Uh, imbeciles._ I’ve never been one for scandals, especially ones of this nature. Completely turned off by the news currently being show, I quickly made my way outside to find my new caretaker already waiting for me.

“Hey! Over here!” he calls. I hurriedly make my way in his direction. He reaches his hand out, inviting me to shake it. I quickly follow through before looking the detective over. He wears something quite casual compared to the detectives I’m used to working with. He even looked casual compared to myself. “Well, you’re more beautiful in person than in your photo.” After that comment I pull my hand away and lose eye contact. I try not to show it, but comments like that make me feel uncomfortable. Thankfully, he either doesn’t care or doesn’t even notice in the first place. “Welcome to Inaba. I’m Ryotaro Dojima. I’ll be looking after you.” He gives me a carefree smile.

“It’s nice to meet you.” I try to return the smile but I’m sure it failed.

“Same goes for me.” He looks back down at the little girl that has been hiding behind him the whole time and pushes her forward. “This here’s my daughter. Come on, Nanako, introduce yourself to your cousin.

“…’lo,” she says barely getting the word out. _I remember being like that when I was younger._ After her brief introduction, she quickly hides herself back behind her father. She receives a soft chuckle from her father.

“What’re you so shy for?” That comment gets him a slap on what I hope was meant to be his back from Nanako. “Ow.” Dojima laughs again. “Well then… Let’s get going. My car’s over there.” After that the two make their way over to said car. As I begin to follow them I hear a voice behind me.

“…Hey.” I turn back around to see an unfriendly-looking girl bending over to pick something up. “You dropped this,” she says standing back up.

“Thank you,” I respond hoping to end the conversation quickly. Though I try not to be rude, I try to avoid social interaction as much as possible.

“Whatever. All I did was pick it up.” So it seems my initial impression was correct. I looked back down at the note I apparently dropped. It’s the note I made previously with the address of my temporary home. _Good thing I didn’t lose it._ I express my thanks again receiving a haughty sound in return. She walks away.

“What’s wrong?” I hear a voice I recognize as Dojima’s say. _Great, now I left the two of them waiting._ I hurriedly race back to the car they are waiting for me in. Upon my arrival, I notice that the front seat is waiting for me so I take it. By looking in the rearview mirror I see Nanako in the back seat looking gloomy. I would try to say something, but knowing my social skills I would undoubtedly make things worse.

The car ride is silent with none of us knowing what to talk about. We’re in the car for no less than 5 minutes when the youngest of us finally says something. “Daddy, I have to go the bathroom,” She says. “Don’t worry, I need to stop for some gas anyway. You can go here.” He turns into a gas station right on the corner of the street. ‘Moel’ the sign says. _What a strange name for a gas station. Or for anything for that matter._ Once we pull in, one of the gas attendants runs towards us.

“Hi! Welcome to Moel!” He says. Or she. This person both looks and sounds completely androgyny.

“Can you go to the bathroom by yourself?” Dojima asks. _How old is she, anyway?_

“Uh-huh.” She quickly exits the car along with Dojima. After walking a few steps, she stops confused.

“It’s in the back, to your left. You know which way’s left? The side you don’t hold your chopsticks in,” The attendant says. _Why is this person assuming she isn’t left-handed?_

“I know… Geez…” as Nanako runs off, I exit the car.

“Are you taking a trip?” He/she asks.

“No, we just went to pick her up.” Dojima gestures to me. “She just moved here from the big city.”

“The city, huh…?” This person sounded strangely interested. The instincts kicked in telling me that this attendant was not to be trusted.

“Fill up my car while you’re at it. Regular’s fine.”

“Right away, Sir!” _This person is to preppy to be a gas attendant._

“Good a time as any for a smoke…” He said under his breath before walking away.

“Are you in high school?” The person I’ve at this point decided to assume is a girl asks me. Even though I don’t like conversation, I don’t want to be rude so I answer.

“Yes, tomorrow I’m going to Yasogami as a first year.”

“Yeah, I thought so. Still that sucks. There really isn’t much to do out here, especially compared to the city. You’ll either be hanging out with your friends or doing part time jobs.” Though the former is very unlikely, I’ve already got that last part cover as a detective. Then again, I doubt there will be much work for me out here. “Speaking of which, we’re actually looking for part-time help right now.’ She takes a step closer to me, making me feel claustrophobic. “Give it some thought, why don’t you? We don’t mind if you’re a student.” Though I want to tell her that it wasn’t going to happen because I already have a job, I figure that would take too much time. When she reaches out her arm, I hesitantly shake it in return.

In the background, I hear tiny footsteps approaching us from the left. _Nanako._ I immediately think to myself. “Oh, I should get back to work,” the attendant says in a less friendly tone. I can feel Nanako’s eyes on me. Before either of us could say anything, I feel a sharp pain in my head. It becomes obvious that I did a terrible job hiding it when the little girl rushes over to me.

“Are you okay?” She asked shyly but still full of concern. “Did you get carsick?” Before I can answer the pain starts to assuage itself.

“I’m fine. Thank you for the concern.” Though I don’t want her to get worried, it truly is a mystery as to why I got the sudden headache. I also feel slightly light headed.

“Are you sure? You don’t look so good.” She still sounds concerned.

“Believe me, you have no reason to be concerned. I’m perfectly fine.”  After I finish easing Nanako’s worries, Dojima comes back from his smoke.

“What’s wrong? You okay?” If anything, he sounds more concerned than his daughter did.

“I’m fine. I’m just feeling slightly lightheaded.”

“That’s understandable. It must have been a long tip for you. Why not take a little walk, get some fresh air? Just let me know then you’re ready to go.” Under most circumstances, I would have declined his offer not wanting to make him wait. Right now, though, I feel as if that would just make things worse.

“Okay, thank you very much. I won’t be gone very long.”

“Don’t worry about it. Take as much time as you need.” Dojima once again gives me a warm smile. _Now that I think about it, this is probably the nicest on of Grandpa’s friends have ever treated me. I can see why he picked this man._

As I walk down the central shopping district, I see that they have a very large variety of different shops. The first ones that pop out to be are Aiya’s, which looks like a Ramon shop, Tatsumi Textiles, Marukyu Tofu, and last but not least  Yomenaido Bookstore. I suspect that I will be spending a lot of my time at the last one.

Once I had explored for a good five minutes, I start my walk back to the car. On my way I see the girl I ran into at the train station again. I find myself unwittingly staring at her.

“Hey! What are you staring at?” It seems it did not escape her attention.

“Oh, I apologize. I meant no ill will.” I start to walk away.

“Hm..?” I hear her say as I walk past her, stopping me dead in my tracks. “Have we met before?” I turn back to her.

“Oh, we met before at the train station.”

“Hmm, okay.” It’s obvious that see has no intention of continuing the conversation. I’m not offended by it. I feel the same way. With by back once again to her, I start my walking again.

“How’re you feeling? Ready to get back in the car?” Dojima asks once he sees me walking his way.

“Yes, I feel much better now. Thank you. I’m truly sorry for the wait.”

“There’s no need to be sorry. Come on, let’s go.” He heads back into the car as the rest of us follow.  The car ride that follows is very similar to the first one but is also thankfully shorter as we are at the house in minutes. The first thing I notice is that that house is quite big, especially for just two people. Then again, I can’t judge considering the fact that my grandpa and I have the whole estate to ourselves.

Without a word, Dojima quickly steps out of the car and opens the loud screen door. Before I go inside I give myself a moment to take it all in. _This will be my home for the next year. I’ll be going to a whole new school, meet whole new people, and live a whole new life. Just one year. No big cases, no rude detectives, just me and two complete strangers living a peaceful life together. Somehow, that thought scared me more than any case ever could._


	2. Chapter 2

By the time evening rolls around, I have already moved all of my things upstairs and to my room. Now I sit at the table with Dojima and Nanako sitting in silence while I eat the food they got for me. “Alright, let’s have a toast,” Dojima proposes. Not willing to turn his suggestion down, Nanako and I raise are drinks into the air with him even though I for one have no idea what we are even toasting for.

  
“So…” It seems Dojima is determined to keep the conversation going. “Your grandfather’s working overseas, right?”

  
“Yes, he is on his way to America right now to work on this big murder case.”

  
“Oh, yeah. He said that. But still, it must be rough for you, having to move in with complete strangers because of your Grandfather’s work.”

  
“Believe me, this is not the worst situation I have found myself in while my grandpa was away.”

  
“Like what?” he sounds genuinely intrigued by the way I said that. Sadly, this is not a very auspicious conversation on my part.

  
“Nothing you need to concern yourself over, I can promise you that much.” I need to steer away from this topic, now.

  
“Oh, well, okay.” He seems to be dropping it here but I can tell the topic never changed in his head. “Anyway, it’s just me and Nanako here, so it’ll be nice having someone like you around.” Someone like me? You don’t even know me yet. “Just as long as you’re here, you’re family, so make yourself at home.”

  
“Thank you for your kindness.” I bow by head slightly.

  
“C’mon, there’s no need to be so formal.” He let out a chuckle. “Look, you’re making Nanako all tense.”

  


“Right, sorry. That’s just a habit of mine.”

  
“No, that’s fine. I was just telling you that you don’t need to be formal if you don’t want to.” He looked back down at his food. “Anyway… Let’s eat.” Before he could even take a bite, Dojima gets a call. “Ugh… Who’s calling at this hour?” He quickly answers it. “Dojima speaking.”

  
Even though I can’t here the other end of the call, I know exactly what they are saying. He’s being called into work right now. I can tell via his expression. He looks both guilty and disappointed, a look I have seen on my grandpa’s face far too many times. Looking back at Nanako, I can tell she knows it too. “Yeah, I see… So where is it?” The way he speaks confirms my earlier hypothesis. “All right, I’m on my way.” He hangs up the phone and under his breath says “Looks like I made the right choice to skip the booze.” I look back at Nanako. She looks so sad and lonely. I wonder if I ever looked like that to other people when I was her age.

  
“Sorry, but I gotta go take care of some business. Go ahead and eat without me.” My heart fell for the little girl across the table from me. Now that I’m older and can understand Dojima’s side of things more, my heart falls for him as well. “I don’t know how late I’ll be. Nanako, you help her out, okay?”

  
“…Okay.” You can almost hear the depression in her voice. Dojima walks away without another word to either of us. Just when I thought he was gone, I hear him scream something from outside. “Nanako, it’s raining out. What did you do with the laundry!?” Laundry? This girl is responsible for the laundry?

  
“I already brought it in!” Wow, you’re pretty responsible for a girl your age.

  
“All right. Well, I’m off.” Now he’s gone and I am left alone with Nanako, a little girl that I have just met and know nothing about. This situation will get awkward quickly. Thankfully, before I completely humiliate myself with me lack of social skills, Nanako reaches over to the remote and turns on the TV.

  
“--for this week. Next, let’s take a look at the hourly breakdown of tomorrow’s weather.” It seems that the weather channel is on. This would be useful to know I knew I was going to be doing anything tomorrow. From the way things look right now, the most likely outcome is that I will spend all of the next day unpacking. “With storm clouds moving in from the west, expect rain throughout the day tomorrow in most areas.” Great, now I have one more thing to be worried about.

  
“Let’s eat,” Nanako says, cutting of the weather lady. It seems that the only thing I can do now is try and talk to the girl.

  
“I’m sorry your dad had to leave like that. Does he do that a lot?”

  


“Yeah, but it’s fine.” She pauses for a second. “My dad’s a detective.”

  
‘Really,” I say pretending that I didn’t know that already “My grandpa’s a detective too, as am I.”

  
“Really, you’re a detective!?” It seems that she has grown very interested in me. I’m not sure if that is good or bad.

  
“Yes,” I don’t want to go into details right now, so I change the subject back to its original course. “Anyway, don’t worry about him having to leave like that. He doesn’t really have a choice. He still loves you.” Remembering all of the days and nights I spent alone as a child, I really do feel for this girl. She reminds me a lot of myself when I was here age. Of course, a lot has changed since then.

  
Before she can even respond to what I said, the TV regained both of our attentions. “And now for the local news. City council secretary Taro Namatame is under fire for an alleged relationship with a female reporter.” Not this again. “His wife, enka ballad sensation Misuzu Hiiragi, revealed to this station that she will likely pursue damages. In response, Eye Television has decided to cancel all of announcer Mayumi Yamano’s televised appearances. Until allegations of an affair with Mr. Namatame are resolved, she will remain off the air and out of the public eye.”

  
“This is boring,” Nanako interrupts. I couldn’t agree more. She changes the station to what looks like a story commercial.

  
“At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day. Come see for yourself and get in touch with our products!” This is still much more favorable than the news. “Every day’s great at your Junes!” The voice sings.

  
“Every day’s great at your Junes!” Nanako mimics in the most adorable way possible. It is so adorable, in fact, that I can’t help but let out a chuckle. Nanako looks at me. “Aren’t you going to eat?” Oh right. I almost forgot. Eating is an option.

  
“Right, of course.” I take a bit with my chopsticks.

  
After we both finish eating, excuse myself and retire to my room. It’s quite small compared to my room back at the estate, but it will certainly do. Because I have neglected to unpack as of right now, the room is still flooded with boxes. With nothing to do, I decide to go to bed on the futon Dojima is allowing me to use.

  
Fog. That’s the only thing I see as I open my eyes. Looking at the floor I stand on it appears to be a bunch of red stones chaotically placed together. Despite the odd situation, I have no fear as I proceed forward. After less than a minute of traveling, I hear a voice in my head.

  
“Do you seek the truth..?” It asks. Ignoring the voice, I continue on my way. “If it’s truth you desire, come and find me…” Now the voice sounds less like it’s in my head and more like it’s coming from right ahead. I speed into a run to a strange looking door. It spiral open for me. Behind it I see more fog and a shadow thing.

  
“So… You are the one pursuing me…” It has the same voice as before. “Hm, try all you like.” It’s now that I notice the gun in my hand. Has it always been there? Attempting to keep my eye on the target I shoot. Considering the fact that no scream of pain comes from in front of me, I assume that I missed. “Hmmm… It seems that you can see a little, despite the fog…” Wait, does that mean I hit whatever this thing is? I try to attack again. This time I feel a strange sensation rush through me as a card appears in front of the nozzle of my gun. Without thinking, I shoot it and feel a stronger sensation. The next thing I know this weird shape attacks the creature instead of a bullet. What was that? I wonder. “I see… Indeed… That is very interesting information…” I strike again, the same way I did initially. “But… You will not catch me so easily… If what you seek is ‘truth,’ then your search will be even harder.” Suddenly, the amount of fog increases to the point where I can barely see my shoes. Despite the obstacles, I still attempt to hit the foe, this time positive I missed. “”Everyone sees what they want to… And the fog only deepens.” Once again, I attack and miss. “Will we meet again…? At a place other than here… Hm… I look forward to it.” Even though I could no longer see the shadowy figure, I can sense it leave. As it leaves I feel my consciousness fade.

  
“Breakfast’s ready,” I hear a voice say from beyond the door. Oh, that must have been a dream.

  
“Hold on, Nanako, give me a minute.” Slowly but surely, I stand back on my feet and proceed to the kitchen downstairs. Once I arrive, I see Nanako by the table carrying a plate containing three pieces of sausage and an egg. On the table I see an identical plate and two plates with toast on them.

  
“Good morning,” Nanako says while laying the plate on the table. “Okay, let’s eat.” I’m still standing there in astonishment.

  
“Nanako, did you do the cooking?” She nods.

  
“I can toast bread… and cook sunny-side up eggs in the morning. Dad can’t cook, so I buy diner.” Wow. And here I am barely being able to toast bread without burning it.

  
“That’s amazing, Nanako-chan. Who taught you how to do that?”

  
“My mom,” She answered quickly. Oh no, I can’t make her sad now. Great, I can’t say three sentences without messing up.

  
“Well, I think you are doing a wonderful job. I can’t do any of that.” I take a seat across the table from the girl and begin eating. It’s not as good as the eggs I would eat at home, but still very impressive.

  
“You’re starting school today, right?” It’s now that notice that she is sounding happier today than yesterday. Good.

  


“Yes. I’m going to Yasogame High.”

  
“Well, my school’s on the way, so… let’s go together.” She definitely sounds much more cheerful. She also seems somewhat restless.

  
After we both finish eating, we begin our journey to each of our respective schools. I notice that Nanako has been staring at me the entire time. I decide not to ask her about it as we walk in silence. That is, until I hear the little girl say something. “Why are you wearing a boy’s uniform?” she asks quite innocently. Right, I hadn’t explained it to her yet.  
“Well, I’m just more comfortable like this. There isn’t much more to be said.”

  
“Oh.” The way her eyes wander indicate that she is lost in thought. Finally looking back at me, she says, “okay,” with a wide grin. Good, she didn’t ask any more questions. Even though it is a conclusion most jump to, I am not transgender. I just simply do not feel comfortable in skirts and such. My grandpa explained this thoroughly to the school and Dojima.

  
We spend the rest of the walk in silence, neither of us having anything else to say. About ten minutes later we stop in the middle of the floodplains. “You keep going straight from here,” Nanako tells me. I give her a confused look. “My school’s this way. Bye.” I wanted to stop her, but thought better of it. I’m sure she knows what she’s doing. After watching her walk off, I continued to my school.

  
Soon after the school comes into sight, a noise comes from behind me. “Whoaaaa..!” it says. I turn my gaze to the sound’s source to find a boy struggling to both pilot and bike and hold his umbrella. Out of instinct I jump out of the way. With a load crash, the poor student crashes violently into a pole. I move to go help him before I see exactly what part of him got hurt. I think he’d prefer to pretend that no one saw that happen than have me help him. I stroll right past him. As I do so I hear him wince in pain.  
Upon entering the building, I am directed to classroom 1-1. Before I can enter, I am stopped by who I assume is the homeroom teacher. “Hey, whoa, stop right there.” The voice for some unknown reason sounds off to me, as if I should run for the hills. I turn around to see a very odd looking man. His hair cut is one that could never be described in words. He has what could possibly be the world’s largest overbite and a permanently pissed-off-looking face. “Are you the new transfer student?” he asks not losing his rough tone. I try not to let it phase me.

  


  
“Yes, I am.” I reach out my hand to him. “My name is-“  
“I know what your stupid name is. Now put your hand down and let me talk.” Taken aback, I slowly put my hand down. “The name’s Kinshiro Morooka. Now let me lay down the rules here.” Something in his voice makes me shiver. “First off, I don’t care if you’re from the city, that doesn’t make you some big shot. Second of all, I also don’t care that you’re a detective. I will treat you just like any one of my other idiotic students. Third…” This goes on for a while.As he keeps giving me more rules, I start to get more and more offended. Once the bell finally rings, I feel like crying out in joy. “Come on, let’s go.” He quickly enters the room. When I try to follow, he almost slams the door in my face.

Walking into the classroom, I see students hurrying to their desks while I am left standing awkwardly in the front of the room. “All right, shut your traps!” With a face like that, no one dares to defy him. “I’m Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from today forward! First things first! Just ‘cause it’s spring doesn’t mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons. Long as I’m around, you students are going to be pure as the driven snow!” From the looks of it, this will not be a very entertaining class.

  
“Now I hate wasting my time, but I’d better introduce this transfer student,” he continues. All eyes dart to me. “This sad sack’s been thrown from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday’s garbage.” He is aware of the fact that I can get him in trouble for talking to students like that, right? “Anyway, introduce yourself, quickly.”

  
“I-I’m Naoto Shirogane.” I was slightly off guard for not expecting to have to talk.

  
“Hey, what’s with the stutter?”

  
“My apologies.”

  
“Okay, whatever. Now listen up.” He’s addressing me directly now. “This town is miles away from your big city of perverts and assholes, in more ways than one. You better not be starting any trouble.” Even though that is more or less the exact same lecture he gave me outside, I nod.

  
After ranting to the class for a while, he finally turns back to be. “Now find an open seat!” Glad to finally get out of everyone’s eyes, I walk over to a desk in the middle with a fast gait. On my way, however, I hear Mr. Morooka mumble “-ya stupid crossdresser” under his breath. It was so low that I doubt anyone else in the class heard, but I did, stopping me in my tracks. “What are you doing!? Sit down!” After taking a deep breath, I continued to the desk without another word. And here I am, hoping no teacher would call me out on it.

  
While I take my seat, I hear other students whispering, but no well enough to make out their words. “Shut your traps! I’m taking roll, and I damn well expect you to respond in an orderly manner!” As he calls off names, I look around at all of my fellow students. Not many of them stand out to me. That is the whole point of a school uniform. The only kid that does stand out, however, REALLY stands out. He is sitting in the far back of the room completely disregarding almost all of the dress code rules. The wears a total punk outfit and his hair looks like it was most likely bleached. I wonder why no one’s called him out on it.

  
After hours of boring lectures and strange teachers, it finally is lunch time. Though most of the students stayed in the classroom to eat, some went out in search of friends. I decided to leave as while due to the stares I know I would be receiving if I stayed. As I traveled the school, I looked for a place no one else was so I could eat in peace. Though it is not the most effective way to make friends, I know I would be a failure at that anyway.

  
I wonder if there is any way I could-. My thoughts are cut off by a body colliding with mine as both of us fall to the ground. “Oh my god, I am so sorry,” the person lying on the ground next to me says. We both stand up and brush ourselves off. Looking her down, she is the second most out-of-uniform person I’ve seen all day. It isn’t much, though. All she’s doing is wearing a green sweater over her uniform.

  
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’s at least partially my fault.”

  
“Okay, well-” She cuts herself off.

  
“Is something wrong?”

  


“What? Oh, no. It’s nothing.” She quickly changes the subject. “Hey, are you new here? I’ve never seen you around.”

  
“Yes, actually. I just moved here for the year while my grandpa is doing work overseas.” Even though I’m not a huge fan of social interaction, this girl seems nice enough.

  
“Oh yeah. I think I heard something about that. So, how do you like it here so far? Make any friends?” Despite only knowing me for two seconds, she seems eager to talk to me.

  
“Not really, I just got here yesterday.” I don’t know if I like where this is going.

  
“Okay then, do you want to go hang out in my classroom with my friends? Even though you’re only a first year, it should be fine.” Wait, does that me that you are my upperclassman.

  
“Okay then.” I don’t see anyway nor reason to refuse. “I have no objections.”

  
“Great.” She sticks out her hand. “I’m Chie Satonaka.” I return her shake.

  
“Naoto Shirogane.” My new companion gives me a friendly smile to which I attempt to return. Maybe this school won’t be too bad.


	3. Chapter 3

Upon entering Chie’s classroom, I notice that there are a lot less people here than there are in my room. Chie runs over to a girl in the middle of the classroom. This lady breaks dress code in a manner very similar to Chie, except with a red sweater instead of a green one.

“Hey Yukiko!” The red-clad girl looks up and gives a shy smile. _Yukiko.  I’ll try to remember that._ “Meet the new transfer student, Naoto Shirogane.” I give her a hesitant wave, not knowing what to do. Yukiko bows her head slightly. I mimic the action.

“I’m Yukiko Amagi. Nice to meet you.”  _That’s weird. She seems so shy compared to Chie._

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well.” The girl appears to be lost in thought.

“Shirogane. I feel as if I’ve heard that name before,” she mumbles to herself. A realization hits me.

“Oh, you must have heard about my family on the news before.” This catches the attention of Chie as well.  “I come from a relatively famous family of detectives. It’s been going on for generations.”

“Wow, that’s so cool!” Chie cuts in. “I wish I came from a family like that.”

“Are you planning to follow in their footsteps?” Yukiko asks.

“Yes, technically I already am. I’ve worked on some cases already. I haven’t done anything too big yet, though.”

“Oh my god, that is so cool. I’ve always admired people in the police force. Wait, do you have a badge!? Or a gun!?” Thought Chie’s hyperactive voice is starting to make me feel uncomfortable, I continue to answer all of them until we all notice another student walking in our direction.

“H-Hey, Yukiko-san. Mind if I ask you something…?” I can see Yukiko tense up. “Is it true that announcer’s staying at your family’s inn?” _Announcer? Is he talking about Mayumi Yamano?_

“I can’t discuss such things.” I can tell that Yukiko is really uncomfortable.  Chie must think the same thing.

“Y-Yeah, I guess not.” The rumor-loving student jogged back to his friends.

“You’re Family owns an inn?” I ask with the hopes that she girl will prefer this conversation more.

“Yes, we own the Amagi Inn down by-” Chie inadvertently cuts her friend off.

“It’s amazing. It’s practically the pride of Inaba.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“I would. It’s been in all sortsa magazines as a hidden treasure.” Chie turns back to me. “It’s a great in. Yukiko here’s going to take over someday.” I doubt she even realizes it, but it seems that her words are making Yukiko uncomfortable again. _I need to change the conversation._

Before I even get a chance to say something, a man I recognize as the person on the bike his morning walks over with a DVD case in his hands. “Uh, umm, Miss Satonaka…?” _This can’t be good._ “This was really awesome. Like, the way they moved was just amazing to see…” _I’m not even going to ask._  “And… I’m really sorry! It was an accident! Please just have mercy until my next paycheck!” _Oh no._ After Chie grabs the case from his hands, the student says “See ya! Thanks!” and attempts to bolt.

“Oh no you don’t!” Chie runs after the poor student. After hearing a crashing sound and a gasp from the boy, I rush over to where they were standing only to find him once again experiencing pain in the same region as before. “What the!? I can’t believe this! It’s completely cracked… My ‘Trial of the Dragon’” She sounds as if she is about to cry. _Wait, did she kick him BEFORE she found out it was cracked?_

“I think mine’s cracked too… C-critical hit to the nads…” To be honest, right now I feel more bad for him than Chie.

“Are you all right?” I ask worriedly.

 “He’s fine, Naoto.” Right after the words leave Chie’s mouth, the bell rings.

“Oh. I guess I better go.”

“Okay then. See you later, Naoto-Kun.  Or, umm” _Why does she seem to be struggling with her words… Oh, right._

“Naoto-Kun is fine,” I reassure her.

“Okay then, goodbye!”

“Gooday Chie-senpai. Yukiko-senpai.” I proceed to make my way outside the classroom and back to mine. Upon my return, I notice that most of the students are already present. Before they’re violent stares can wear me down too much, I rush to my seat. The bell rings once more as Mr. Morooka enters the room. Taking a look around, I make note of the fact that the punk student from earlier is gone. _That’s weird._

After some more long, dull lectures, the final bell rings. “That’s all for today,” Mr. Morooka says in his normal off-putting voice. “Normal lectures start tomorrow.” While I am in the middle of packing up my school supplies, I sound is heard over the intercom.

“Attention, all teachers. Please report immediately to the Faculty Office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classrooms and are not to leave until further notice.” _Somethings wrong already? I wonder what this is about._

“Hrnh. You heard the announcement. Don’t go anywhere until you hear otherwise.” Not looking as if he’s in any hurry, the teacher exits the classroom and goes into the hall. _What am I supposed to do now?_ Sadly, an activity presents itself instantly after the buck-toothed man walked away.

“So, what’s up with you, anyway?” The student in front of me asks.

“Excuse me, but I don’t know what you are referring to.”

“I mean your uniform. You ARE a girl, right?” _I knew this was coming._

“I just don’t like skirts. Is that going to be a problem?” I say sounding as threatening as a person of my size could. All that does is make the boy laugh.

“Was that supposed to scare me off? No way.” The kid turns back to his snickering friends. _I guess I will need to watch out for him._ Even though bullies throughout my school years have not affected me too much, I would much rather not have them around. Before I can do anything else, the intercom turns on again.

“Attention, all students. There has been an incident inside the school district. Police officers have been dispatched around the School Zone. Please stay calm and contact your parent or guardians as soon as possible, and quickly leave the school grounds.” _An incident? I wonder what’s going on. Well, if police are there, Dojima will probably be able to tell me something._ Quickly I leave the room and head towards the door. On the way out, I hear a familiar voice come from behind me.

“Hey! Naoto-Kun!” Turing around, I am greeted my Chie and Yukiko.

“Oh, hello,” I respond timidly.

“Are you walking home by yourself?” Chie asks. I nod in return. “We’re going to go hang out at Junes. Wanna come?” _Hmm, well, if Dojima is working on whatever happened, surely I won’t be missed._

“Okay, as long as you’re sure. I wouldn’t want to be a bother.”

“No, of course not. Right, Yukiko?” The second girl looks up in surprise.

“Oh, yeah. Of course.” _She still seems quite uncomfortable. Then again, I’m sure I do as well._ Once we are all in mutual agreement, we proceed outside the building into the schoolyard.

“So, how long are you-” Chie attempts to ask before being cut off by an unknown voice.

“You’re Yuki, right? Y-You want to go hang out somewhere?” The disturbing individual is wearing a uniform nothing like the ones at Yasogami. _Who is this man?_

“What…? Wh-who are you?” _That confirms that Yukiko-Senpai does not know this man._ Other students from our school gather around.

“What’s up with him?” one of the boys asks. “What school’s he from?”

“Never mind that, He’s going for Yukiko-san?” another says. “Man, you’d think he’d at least wait until she’s alone to make his move…” _It’s probably good that he didn’t._

“I bet you a can of TaP he gets knocked out.” _What causes him to make such a claim? Yukiko doesn’t seem like the violent type. Then again, I did only just meet her._

“No bet. Haven’t you heard how difficult the Amagi Challenge is?” _The Amagi Challenge? What is wrong with the people at this school?_

“Um, s-so… are you coming or not?” asks the fish-eyed man bringing my focus back to the issue at hand.

“I-I’m not going…”

“…Fine!” the man screams before running off like a child throwing a tantrum.

“Wh-what did he want from me…?”

“What did he want…? Obviously he was asking you out on a date.” Chie answers.

“It sounded like he wanted more than that to me,” I mumble under my breath.

“Huh? Really…?” _How oblivious is she?_

“You really had no clue? Sheesh… But then again, that was way over the top. It’s creepy how he called you Yuki all of the sudden.” _How did he find out her name, anyway?_  The sound of a bicycle comes from behind us.

“Yo, Yukiko-san,” Turning around, I recognize him as the man Chie kicked earlier. “Turned down another lovelorn fool, huh? Man, you’re cruel… You got me the same way last year.” _How is simply not excepting a date cruel._

“I don’t recall doing that.” Yukiko sounds angry now.

“Whoa, you serious? So then, you wanna hang out sometime!?”

“…I’d rather not.”

“That’ll teach me to get my hopes up.” The man climbs onto his bike. “Anyways, you two better not pick on the transfer student too much.”

I jump to their defense. “Oh, they’re not-” The student cuts me off.

“It’s okay, I know how they are.” He takes off.

“We’re just trying to talk, is all!” Chie screams after him. Yukiko turns to me.

“U-Um, I’m sorry for dragging you into this…”

“Oh, no, it’s fine. Do you encounter people like that a lot?”

“I guess so, but Chie’s always around so nothing ever happens.”

“Oh, well that’s fortunate.” More students begin to gather around.

“C’mon, let’s go. Everyone’s staring.” Chie goes on ahead while the two of us quickly follow after her.

“So, why did you transfer schools? It’s kinda hard for me to imagine someone moving from the big city to a small town like this by choice.” Chie asks as we walk down the street.

“Oh, well, my grandpa took a job in America to help out there for a year. I don’t really have any family to stay with so I’m staying here with an old friend of his.” Somehow my response made the girl laugh.

“Haha, I thought it was something way more serious than that.” She looks around. “Still, it must suck. There really isn’t anything here.”

“That’s what makes it nice though, right? I’m sure in must be peaceful.”

“Well, yeah, but there really isn’t much to show to people from the outside. Though, there is something from Mt. Yasogami… I think our dyed clothes or pottery or something is kinda famous. Oh, and the Amagi Inn! That’s pretty cool too!”

“It’s nothing that interesting. I’m sure that you have been to better in the city,” Yukiko says, speaking for the first time since we started walking.

“What are you talking about?” Chie turns to her friend. “The hot springs on their own are awesome.”

“Well…” Yukiko turns to me. “Anyway, how do you like your classes, Naoto-kun?” she asks, desperate that change the conversation.

“They are easy enough, if anything boring. The teacher might be a problem though,” My voice trails off. Even so, Chie seems to instantly know what I’m talking about.

“Oh, no! You don’t have King Moron, do you?” She sounds worried.

“King moron?” I ask.

“Mr. Morooka. Do you have him?”

“Yes, why do you ask? Did you?”

“No, but Yosuke did.” Before I can ask who Yosuke is, she continues. “He’s terrible. Apparently, one time a girl answered on of his questions wrong, and he yelled at her so much she started crying.”

“Couldn’t he get fired for that?” I ask even though I’m relatively certain the answer is yes.

“I dunno, maybe. Then again, you would know, being a detective and all.” Chie suddenly smiles. Anyway, do you think Yukiko is cute?”

“What!?” _WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?_ “Um, yeah, I guess so.” _How am I supposed to respond to that!?_

“I KNEW IT!” Chie screams.  _What happened to this conversation? Is it like this supposed to be like this?_

“Come on…” Yukiko mumbles. _Why does Chie always insist on making her friend fell uncomfortable?_ “ Don’t start this again…”

“She’s really popular at school, but she’s never had a boyfriend. Kinda weird, huh?”

“Maybe we shouldn’t-”

“I’m right though, right? Yukiko should have a boyfriend.”

“C-Come on, stop it.” Yukiko intervenes. “You shouldn’t believe that, okay? It’s not true that I’m popular, or that I’ve never had a boyfriend!” I give her a weird look. “Wait, n-no! what I meant to say was, I-I don’t need a boyfriend.” Chie just laughs.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. But this is our chance to talk to someone from the city and you’ve barely said a word! Why don’t you just-” She cuts herself off. “Hey, what’s that?” We all both look to where she’s pointing. There are a bunch of people standing in front of a crossroads blocked by police officers. Out of curiosity, we walk over to the site.

“So that high schooler left school early, and as she came down this street…” Some housewives ae gossiping.”

“Wow. Who could imagine THAT hanging from an antenna?” _Could this be what the announcement at school was for?_

“I wanted to see it too.”

“Uh, you got here too late… The police and fire department took it down just moments ago.”

“Well, I think it’s terrifying, a dead body showing up here…” _A DEAD BODY?_

“Wait… what did she just say? A dead body!?” Before any of us can do anything, I see Dojima in the background walk over to us.

“Hey, what’re you doing here?” He questions.

“We were just passing by. What happened here?”

“Nothing you should concern yourself with.”

“..You know this guy?’ Chie asks, throwing me off guard. 

“Yes, he is my temporary guardian.” I quickly answer.

“I’m Detective Dojima. Uhh... Well, how should I say this…? I hope you get along with her. But you three ought to head home.”

“Wait.” I say as my detective instincts kick in. “Can you at least tell me something? I am detective, after all.”

“Yes, but still, you aren’t legally assigned to the case. Even if I could tell you something I wouldn’t. I don’t think your grandfather would like that.” Before I can protest, he walks away. Soon after, another detective runs past us to throw up. _Is it really that bad?_ “Adachi! How long are you going to act like a rookie? You want to be sent back to the central office!?”

“I’m sorry,” he nauseated  man says.

“Go wash your face, quickly.” The man runs past us again.

“Was this what that announcement was about…?” Chie asks what we were all thinking.

“More than likely, yes.” I respond.

“What do they mean… it was hanging from the antenna…?” Yukiko sounds disgusted. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t go to Junes today.” The green-clad girl says.

“I concur. We should go.” I agreed.

“Good idea…” Now that we are all in agreement, we all go our separate ways.

On my way back to my new home, I run into multiple people gossiping about the incident. Sadly, none of them give me information. Every time I ask an officer, they tell me to go home. Just short of 6 pm, I finally take their advice. Once I enter the house, I see Nanako sitting at the table watching the television. She hears me come in. “Oh, hello.” She looks sad again.

“Hello, Nanako-chan.” Looking around, I am relieved to see that Dojima has not returned home yet. The little girl in front of me, however, most likely does not feel the same way. _This girl has it tough. Maybe she would feel better if I sit with her._ I offer to watch TV with her. She simply nods and turns her head back to the screen as I sit down.

“Do you want to watch something?” She asks. _Now that I think about it, I might be able to find out more on the news._

“If you don’t mind, I would like to watch the news for a bit. Then we can watch whatever you want.” Without a word, she changes the channel.

“Our top story this evening concerns a bizarre case in a quiet suburb,” the news anchor says in a monotone voice. “Around noon today, a woman was found dead near the Samegawa River in Inaba. The deceased has been identified as Ms. Mayumi Yamano.” _Wait, isn’t that the announcer involved in that scandal?_  “The results from the investigation by the police department in Inaba reveal…”

“Ah! Th-That’s where Dad works!” Nanako’s voice stops me from hearing the rest. After the words leave her mouth, she begins to look worried.

“Don’t worry, your father is perfectly fine.” I assure her.

“…I know. That’s his job, so this stuff happens.”

The announcer continues. “The body was found hanging from a large television antenna atop a local resident’s roof.” _Hanging from an antenna? How did no one notice the killer doing that?_ “Authorities are uncertain as to why the body was in such a state. With the cause of the death also uncertain, police continue to investigate whether the death was an accident or a homicide.” _Are they seriously thinking it could be an accident? How do you accidently hang yourself off of an antenna?_

Nanako’s voice cuts off my thoughts. “They found her on the roof? That’s scary…” _Oh, tight, she’s just a little kid and I’m making her watch morbid things like this. How could I have been so thoughtless?_ Before I can apologize, a commercial comes on. “Oh, it’s Junes!” The girl calms down as the same commercial from yesterday plays. “Every day’s great at your Junes!” She sings again.

“You’re a good singer.” I tell her.

“Thanks, I’m the best in my class!” It seems that she forgot all about the story.

After sitting with her for a while, I begin to feel exhausted. Once I had excused myself, I travel back up to my room and go to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello peoples. I’m hope that you guys like the story. I would like to apologize for the fact that I may have been characterizing characters wrong. So far only one person has said anything about it but I don’t know if anyone else has a problem with it. I will try to do better in the future. I would also like to remind you that I am still taking votes for social links. I have decided that I don’t think Naoto will be joining any club because I cannot imagine her doing so. She may still have social links with these characters anyway, just outside of the club. Anyway, I hope to be updating soon. Until then, au revoir!


	4. Chapter 4

Thankful that the rain hadn’t continued into the next day, I walk to school with thousands of questions on my mind. _Why was Yamano killed? Why did the killer hang her from an antenna? Why did no one catch him/her doing such a thing? What was the lady’s cause of death?_ All these questions weighed me down as I walk with a gait slower than usual. The biggest weight on my mind, however, is how Dojima is refusing to tell me anything.  I know that I’m not on the case, but a little bit more information would be quite nice. 

A loud sound from up ahead interrupts my thoughts. As I reenter reality, I am met by the bottom end of a man rolling around in a trashcan. “S-Someone…,” the voice from speaks with a faint echo. Rushing to the man, I awkwardly help him out. It’s the student I met yesterday, the one Chie kicked.  He jumps back on his bike. “Whew, you saved me. Thanks! Umm…”

“Are you okay?” I ask as he seems to have lost his words.

“Me? Yeah, I’m fine. The bike is too, thankfully.” He glares at me. “Hey, you’re that transfer student, right? The one Chie and Yukiko were talking to?” _It seems he recognized me._

“Yes, right. I’m Naoto Shirogane.”

“Yosuke Hanamura. Nice to meet ya.” He gives me a playful grin that, coming from a boy my age, makes me feel uncomfortable.  “Anyway, we should probably start walking again or else we’ll be late.”

“That would likely be for the best.” We both walk as he pushes him bike alongside us.

“Say, did you hear about that incident from yesterday? They found that announcer lady hanging from an antenna!” He sounds somewhat too happy to be talking about murder. “You thing it was some kinda warning? There’s no way something that weird could’ve been an accident.”

“I’ve been thinking the exact same thing. Sadly, I am having trouble getting more information.”

“Seriously though, dangling a dead body over a roof like that… That’s just messed up.”

“Also a waste of time. There must be some kind of message that I’m just not seeing in this.” Soon after the words leave my mouth, we walk through the front door of the school.

“Well, I’ve got to get to class. See ya!” Before I can even respond, he runs off. I hurry as well; sure nothing good could come of me being late to Mr. Morooka’s class.

After another full day of classes, I’m starving. I spent the entire lunch period asking other students for information about the murder and came up with nothing in return. I decide to quickly return to the Dojima residence to eat something out of the fridge. Once I had finished putting everything away I my bag, I rush to the door that leads to the school yard. On the way, I run into Yosuke. “Oh, hey, dude,” is all he says.

“Hello, Yosuke-senpai.”

“So, ya headin’ home?”

“Yes, actually.”

“Yeah, I figured. There really isn’t much to do out here. But hey, ya hungry?”

“What do you have in mind?” I question him.

“Grilled steak, man. I know a place where you can get it cheap. Wanna come? You helped me out this morning, so it’s on me.”

“Oh, there’s no need to do-”

“What about me, huh? No apologies?” The sudden voice surprises me as I had no idea Chie was anywhere close to us. “My ‘Trial of the Dragon.’” _Didn’t Yosuke already promise to pay her back?_

“Urgh… You always come around when I’m talking about food…” Yosuke doesn’t sound very happy.

“Right, Naoto-kun? Don’t you think he should treat me too?” _Why did she suddenly involve me?_

“I don’t know. I’m not even entirely sure he needs to treat me.” I answer honestly. Even so, she chooses to ignore it.

“Come on. We should get going.” _Chie has a very demanding voice and yet it still sounds incredibly squeaky._

“Huh? Do I seriously have to treat two people…?” Yosuke sounds distressed.

“No, it’s fine. I can pay for myself” _He really shouldn’t have to pay for her._

“No, it’s fine.” He sighs. “Let’s go.”

To my disbelief, the place Yosuke leads us to is not some shop in the shopping district, but Junes, the local department store. “THIS is the cheap place you were talking about!?’ Chie exclaims, attracting the attention of everyone around us as we all climb into the elevator. ‘They don’t have grilled steak here!”

“Yeah, well, once you hopped aboard the freeloader train, I had to change my plans.” Yosuke presses the button that should take us to the roof.

“Still, that’s no reason to take us to your place.” We collectively step out of the elevation, squinting at the sudden light. _You’re place? What does she mean by that?_

“Dude, this isn’t my place or anything.” I give Yosuke a confused look. ‘Oh, right. I haven’t told you yet, huh? My dad’s the manager of this place.”

“Oh, so you get a discount, then?”

“Yep.  Anyway, you two can sit down while I get us some food.” He takes off while Chie and I take our seats at a round table near the center of the food court. As soon as he is out of hearing range, Chie suddenly starts talking really fast.

‘So, have you heard anything about the case from your detective guy?” Her sudden loud voice throws me off, but I answer calmly.

“No, he still refuses to talk about, unlike the rest of the town. Sadly, no one else has useful information.”

“Still, I can’t believe something like this actually happened!” Like Yosuke this morning, she sounds far too excited.

“Still, even though, I love a good case, I was hoping for things to be less wide for a little bit.” I look away from Chie and over to Yosuke, who is waiting patiently for the food.

“Oh, right. You must have stuff like this happen around you all the time.” I look back to the girl.

“Yes, but in those times I was investigating, not slaving over news feeds.” I sigh. “It feels weird to be on this side of things.”  Out of the corner of my eye, I see Yosuke pick up a single tray and walk over to us.

Once he sat down and gave us our food, the conversation began to revolve around small talk. Because that is practically speaking a foreign language to me, I remain quite while eating the surprisingly delicious food. In my peripheral vision, I see a girl wearing a Junes apron sit down at a faraway table. Yosuke notices as well. “Hey, it’s Saki- senpai! I’ll be right back.” Yosuke almost runs over to the girl.

“Is that his girlfriend?” I ask Chie. She chuckles.

“Haha, he wishes. That’s Saki Konishi. Her family runs a liquor store in the shopping district. I think she’s working her part time, though.” The two of us stare at the two intensely.

“Hey, how’s it going? You look beat.” Yosuke asks the girl. _He’s not wrong. She only looks half awake._

“Heeey! I’m finally on break…” The girl, Saki, says. _How hard are they working this girl?_ “What’s up Hana-chan? Boosting the family business by bringing your friends here?”

“Madam, you wound me!” _Technically he should have said Mademoiselle._ “Kidding aside, you look down. Did something happen?”

“…It’s nothing. I’m just a little tired.”

“Hey, if you need to talk, I’m always willing to listen. I…” Saki cuts him off.

“No, it’s fine. I’m okay.” She sighs. “Why’d I leave school early yesterday…?” _Wait, she isn’t…_ She randomly looks in my direction.  “Hey… is that the new transfer student?” She piped up a bit somehow and walks over to me. “Are you the transfer student? Oh, did you hear about me already?” _Is she hitting on me or something? Why did her attitude change so suddenly?_ “Anyway, it’s nice to see that you’re making friends with Hana-chan. It’s kinda weird though. I don’t see him hanging out with many guys.” _How rude is this girl?_

“I don’t see anything wrong with that.” I defend him.

“I know, I was just joking around.” She looks at the clock on the wall. “Well, my breaks almost over. Back to work I go… Laters.” Without giving any of us a chance to say goodbye, she walks off. As Yosuke sits back down, the two of them get back to small talk. I tune most of it out until they switch to a topic that peaks my interest.

“You ever hear of the Midnight Channel?” Chie asks, phrasing the question as if she’s a TV saleswoman. “You’re supposed to look into a TV that’s switched off, alone, exactly at midnight on a rainy night. While you’re staring at your own image, another person will appear on the screen and they say that person’s your soulmate.”

“What? For a second, I thought you were going to say something useful. How can you get so excited over a childish urban legend like that?” Yosuke teases.

“Childish, huh? You don’t believe it, so you!?” Chie defends.

“Of course I don’t.”

“Well, it’s raining tonight! Let’s all try it out-- then you’ll see!” _When did I agree to this?_

“Wait, you haven’t even tried it yourself? Wow, I’m trying to remember the last time I heard something this stupid.” He shakes his head. “Anyway, let’s talk about something else. Like that incident. DO you guys think it was murder?”

“Oh course. What else could it be?” I speak for the first time in forever.

“Oh no you don’t! don’t go changing the subject on me like that!” Chie turns the conversation right back around.  “All I’m saying is, you guys better try the Midnight Channel tonight.”

“Fine, whatever, I’ll do it.” Yosuke finally agrees.

“I can’t think of a reason why not.” I also agree.

“Great, let’s do it!” Chie yells.

After a good amount of time has passed, we all go our separate ways. On the way back to the house, I pick up a book at Yomenaido Bookstore. A good hour is spent reading before Nanako calls me to diner. She looks even more depressed than yesterday. I sit down across from her and begin eating. “Did your father call and tell you he’d be late?” I ask. She shakes her head.

“No. He always says he will…” The door slams open behind me, making me jump slightly. “Oh! He’s home!” Dojima walks through the door and goes straight for the couch.

“what a day…” he mumbles. “I’m back. Did anything happen while I was out?” Nanako answers before I can.  
“No. You’re late again.”

“I’m sorry… Been busy at work.”

“That’s okay. I understand.” I assure him. He doesn’t respond.

“Can you put the news on for me?” He asks. Nanako quickly obeys.

“Next, more details in the developing story on the incident in foggy Inaba. Announcer Mayumi Yamano’s dead body was found hanging above a house in this isolated rural town. It had been revealed earlier this week that she had been involved in an affair with Taro Namatame.” The anchor goes on into details involving the affair. I continue eating until the announcer finally regains my interest. “We now bring you an exclusive interview with the student who found the body.” _This should be interesting._ The screen changed from the announcer to a blurry face.

“What went through your mind when you saw it? Could you tell she was dead? Did you see her face?” says a new voice that sounds more excited than Chie and Yosuke combined. _Wait, is that the girl I met before, Saki Konishi?_ They did not do a good job of hiding the face.

“Umm,” the girl on the other side of the screen has no idea how to answer any of the questions.

“Don’t you think it’s scary that someone was killed on a foggy day?” _Why is he asking questions like that?_ The questions only get weirder and more off topic from there.  Even as the regular announces come back, no more interesting topic come up. As Dojima seems to have fallen asleep, I take that as a sign that I should hear back to my room.

One finished book later, it is 11:58 PM. I let out a yawn as I wait of the last two agonizing minutes to finally be over. _I can’t believe I’m actually doing this._ The sound of heavy rain comes in from the window. The clock ticks away until it is thirty seconds to midnight. I stand up to get closer to the TV. Once it finally hits midnight, I get the exact result I expected. Nothing.

As I turn away to my futon, I hear a sudden static.  Quickly rushing back to the screen, I’m surprised to see it somehow turned on. _Unbelievable._ The next thing I know I am show an image of a school girl flailing around on the screen. It is too blurry to make anything out. “What the…” I mumble, having no idea what to think.

“ _I am thou_ ,” a voice says in my head. _What is this?_ “ _Thou art I_ ” _Who are you_ “ _Thou art the one who opens the door_ ” The pain in my head is unbearable.  I fall down to my knees. Regaining the ability to stand, I feel myself drawn to the television. Without any control of my own body, I raise my hand and push it into the screen. I almost scream as I see my hand enter the screen as if it were just water. Just as quickly as it goes in a strange force attempts to pull in the rest of my body. Soon I find my entire head and neck submerged, the only thing stopping the rest of my body from entering being the tiny size of the television.  My only free had struggles to free myself. Once it finally does, the momentum sends the back of my head flying towards the edge of my table. I need to bite my tongue in order to stop myself from screaming.

“Are you okay…?” I hear someone yell from the other side of the door. _Nanako? Oh no, I must have woken her up._

“Yes, I’m fine,” I yell back as the pain in my head proves the opposite to be true.

“Okay.”

“Just go back to bed,” I order her.

“Well, goodnight.” I can hear her run back to her room. _Good, she believed me._

“What just happened?” I mumble sleepily. _I should just go to bed._ And I do just that.

The next morning, I walk to school once again by myself. I could barely sleep last night of a large number of reasons. Even as I walk I have a hard time focusing on the world around me. Strange thoughts and memories of that voice echo through my head clouding every thought I have.  Once I reach class I am still just as out of it as I was previously. After class my mind is a bit clearer knowing that I will have a chance to talk about it soon. The people around me are continuing to gossip about the murder. _How many times can they continue to talk about the exact same thing?_ Before I can leave the room to travel to my senpai’s, I am stopped by one of my classmates. _Aoto Sugimoto._ I only know his name because he is called on so much my the teachers when they catch him zoning out.

“Hey, Shirogane.” His voice doesn’t sound very inviting, but I deside to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Hello, Sugimoto-san. Is there something you wish to discuss?”

“You’re a detective right?” he asks, taking me off guard.

“Yes, but ho-”

“Tell me about the murder thing.”

“I- I’m sorry.” _What makes him think I know anything?_

“I’m pretty damn sure you heard me.” His voice is putting me on edge, but I respond to his request.

“I apologize, but I am not on this specific case so I know just as much as you do.” He balls his hands into fists. _This can’t be good._ The man hushes to grab me as I pull away.

“TELL ME SOMETHING YOU-” He is cut off by another man grabbing his extended arm and pulling to away.

“Leave the girl alone! If she says she doesn’t know anything, she doesn’t know anything!” Looking at my defender, I remember him as the man on the first day of school in the biker outfit, which he is still wearing now.

“Hey, dude, get off-” My attacker cuts himself after he sees the body connected to the arm grabbing him. “Oh, I’m sorry dude. Please forgive me.”

“Huh, whatever, man. Just get out of my sight.” Sugimoto proceeds to run out of the classroom. Before I can even thank him, the punk man leaves as well. Once I regain my senses, I do as well.

Entering the second-year classroom, I find it to be almost baron. The only two people still inside are Yosuke and Chie, the two I can to meet. “I apologize for the wait.”

“Uh, h-hey Naoto-kun.” Yosuke says with an unusual stutter.

“Hey, did you two hear the rumor going around?” Chie cuts in, not even bothering to say hi to me.

“What rumor?” I ask curiously.

“Saki-senpai’s supposedly the one who found the body.” _Wait, isn’t that obvious. The news didn’t do that great of a job hiding it._

“I wonder if that’s why she looked so down…” Yosuke says miserably.

“By the way,” Chjie looks around for listeners even though we all know that we’re alone. “did you see… it… last night?”

“Huh, well, y-you first.”

“I did! I seriously saw a girl! But… does that mean my soulmate’s a girl?” Chie proceeds to describe the girl she saw. Wait, t _he girl she is describing sounds like the same person I saw._  From the look On Yosuke’s face, I can tell he’s thinking the same thing.

“Hey, that sounds like the person I saw.”

“Me too,” I agree.

“Wait, we all saw the same person!? How does that work?” Chie sits in thought. “Does that mean we have the same soulmate?”

“Most likely not,” I correct her. “That would defeat the whole idea of soulmates. The most plausible explanation is that the rumor we heard is slightly off.”

“What do you mean?” Yosuke asks.

“The time we can view the channel was correct, but the reason behind who we see if different.”

“Have any ideas?” he asks.

“I have yet to figure that out.” I think to myself for a moment. _Should I tell them about what else happened last night? Would they even believe me if I did? Well, if Chie believed in the original legend, she is more likely to believe that Yosuke. I guess I might as well, they’ve already seen TV screens turn on and show a bunch of people the exact same image._

After much internal debate, I tell them about what happened. As I say more, their faces show more and more doubt. Once I finish, neither of them had any idea what to say. Yosuke was the first to speak. “are you sure you didn’t just fall asleep or something?”

“That’d be one interesting dream, though. I like the part where you got stuck ‘cause your TV was too small. That’s pretty realistic.” _That’s about the result I expected._ Somehow, the topic of televisions reminded Chie of something. “Ohh, that reminds me. Our family’s been talking about buying bigger TV. Yosuke, do you think you could hook us up.”

“I can try. We’ve been beefing up our electronics department this month.”

“Yes, awesome! Let’s go!”

“We’ve got some pretty big ones in stock.” He nudges me in the shoulder. “I bet you’d be able to fit into them, hehe.” _Now they’re making fun of me. How immature can one person be?_

After that disaster, we all head over to Junes with me once again being the third wheel. Once we get there, they both completely ignore me. As Chie continues to complain about the prices, I become very tempered to leave. While they talk, I walk over to one of the larger TVs on display. _Maybe if I stick my hand in now and prepare myself I won’t fall in. It will also prove to them I wasn’t seeing things._ Without much more thought, I swiftly push my hand through the screen, once again creating ripples.

“Oh yeah, Naoto, what kind of TV do you--” The strange sight steals his words.

‘Huh?” Chie has yet to see. “Something wrong, Yosuke?”  I hear her gasp as she finally turns around. Now they are both struggling for words. After a few seconds of shock, they both run to my side. “You gotta be kidding me… Did you really stick your hand through the screen?”

“Oh man…” Yosuke sounds like he might start hyperventilating. ‘That’s some magic trick. Come on, what’s the magician’s secret!?” _It seems he is still in denial._ _Maybe this will prove the point even further._ I now stick my head in. “H-Hey, don’t do that! What are you doing!?”

“Oh my god!” Chie screams.

“There’s nothing but empty space inside,” I tell them.

“Wh-What do you mean inside!?” _It seems he still doesn’t understand._ They both continue to freak out on the other end. I can barely hear them though. I think Yosuke said something about having to pee. _Really, now is not a very appropriate time._

“Oh no, I think I hear costumers!” I hear Chie exclaim, followed more bickering. I try to pull out, but before I can I feel a force from the outside force me in, this time my whole body.

“WHOA!” I think I hear a voice say, but it is drowned out into the void the three of us now find ourselves falling into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look, I’m posting two days in a row. Yeah, this is what happens when find myself with nothing to do all weekend. This is also my longest chapter yet. Anyway, I don’t really have much to talk about right now when it comes to the story. I think next chapter will be Yosuke’s shadow battle, so stay tuned for that. Until then, sayōnara!


	5. Chapter 5

A tingly feeling comes over my body as I sink farther into the strange, white vortex. By instinct, my eyes snap shut, preparing myself for whatever we may find at the end of this mess. Surrounded by the sound of my two new friends, I for some reason do not find myself screaming at all. Instead I just stiffen up and hope the end will come soon.

After what felt like hours but was most likely less than thirty seconds, a new, somewhat stranger air floated around me. I open my eyes only to close them right away as I feel the impact of the solid ground on my back. Two painful outburst from the others later, I reopen my eyes to see nothing but yellow and fog. Allowing my eyes to adjust, I stand up hoping to see more. While Chie and Yosuke both exchange confuses banter, I realize that this place looks similar to the likes of the TV studio.  There are multiple sets of stairs and even more stage lights. _What is this place?_

“So… uh… we’re still alive… Right?” Chie asks the two of us.

“I would guess so.” I say while glancing around. My gaze returns to them “Are you both okay?”

“I think my butt’s cracked now…” Yosuke responds, making me hope he’s kidding.

“Of course it is!” Chie exclaims.

“I do believe that it is meant to be that way.” I add. Yosuke ignores us and looks around.

“Whoa, what is this place,” he says in amazement by his surroundings.

“Is this… a studio?” Chie asks.

“That was my first thought as well, but I doubt there is any place like this anywhere near the perimeter of Inaba.” _Is this supposed to be some kind of new world inside the television? That would be the only possible explanation as to why we are all here._

“Man, this place his huge!” Yosuke scans the area again.

“What are we gonna do..?” Chie asks the one question that never popped into my head but probable should have sooner. _What can we do? Is there even an exit? If we fell from the sky…_

“We need to look around.” I order.

“Huh? B-But…” Chie sounds confused.

“I don’t think there are any more options.”

“No, we need to get home and—!” Chie and Yosuke look around once more. “Wait a minute… Where’s the exit?”

“I don’t think there is one. At least, not around here. We need to investigate.”

“Yeah, you’re right. We just need to find an exit,” Yosuke agrees calmer now. “Let’s calm down and think about this.”

“Well put.” I encourage. I’m not one to be the leader, so I’m fine with him being in charge.

“Is there really a way out of here?” Chie questioned.

“We got in, so we must be able to get out somehow,” Yosuke reassures.

“That’s true, but…”

“If there’s no exit, we’re trapped, so let’s cross our fingers and look around.”

“Agreed,” I say as a signal that we should start moving. We all nod.

No more than 15 minutes later, we find ourselves on a catwalk leading to a red, spiral vortex. “What is that!?” Chie yells quite loudly, but not to the point of screaming.

“Do you guys think it might be an exit?” Yosuke asks excitedly.

“I don’t think so?” I answer honestly. “Red is a tell-tale sign of bad.” I think for a moment. “Even so, it’s the only lead we have.”

“Wait, you want us to go in THERE?” Chie’s voice has grown louder.

“I don’t think we’ve got much of a choice.” Yosuke sounds defeated, but we continue onward. Seeing the others hesitate, I am the first to walk through the portal. The feeling that comes over me as I enter is surprisingly tense. Before I can even get a good look at the room I enter, the other two come in as well.  I note instantly that the room reminds me of a room at some kind of fancy inn. _Interesting._

“Hey, is it me or is the fog lighter here?” Yosuke points out. _He certainly isn’t wrong. It’s quite a relief on my eyes._

“Can’t you guys slow down? It’s hard enough to see where you’re going,” Chie calls from behind.  Turning around for the first time since entering, I see that this is most certainly **not** a normal inn room. The walls are covered in blood and some weird yellow paint. They are also covered in posters of some woman with the head cut out. “It’s a dead end! There’s no exit!” _That’s what you point out first?_

“It’s okay, I’m sure there’s one somewhere.” I reassure her. “Right now, my main concern is the large amount of dry blood covering the walls.”

“Wow, it keeps getting creepier and creepier the further we go…” Yosuke adds while saying nothing useful. Suddenly, he makes a very unhuman sound. “Aargh! I can’t hold it any longer! My bladder’s gonna explode!” _Oh, right, he still has to pee._ Before neither Chie nor I could react, he runs to the other side of the room with his hands over his Crotch.

“Yosuke! What’re you doing!?” Chie yells.

“I gotta let it out before I piss my pants!”

“Fine, just do it quickly,” I respond.

“What!? No! He can’t go here!” Chie’s yells are now directed at me.

“I don’t think he has a choice. It’s fine.”

“Turn around! I can’t go if everyone’s watching!” As I oblige his request, Chie refuses. Yosuke makes a defeated noise. “I can’t do it! It’s your fault if my bladder bursts!”

“Like I care…” Chie says with no sympathy whatsoever. _This girl can be mean sometimes. I should make note of that._

“Now that that’s over,” I try to get things back on topic, “do either of you know anything about this room?”

“Nothing,” Yosuke turns his attention to the one thing I hadn’t noticed yet. A chair and noose. “Dude, this kind of arrangement is never good…”

“Interesting,” I mumble. “Was someone planning to commit suicide here? If the noose is still tied securely and there’s no body to be seen, I can assume it was never used. Based on all the blood, I don’t think they made it that far.”

“Wow, you sure are calm about this,” Chie points out. “Well, you are a detective after all.”

“Is the noose tied with a scarf?” Yosuke notes.

“It seems that way, yes.”

“C’mon.. Let’s look somewhere else for an exit. I don’t think we should be in here.” The green-clad girl makes a good point.

“Yes, we should go. I apologize, my curiosity got to the better of me.” On our way out, Yosuke stops us all after getting a better look at one of the posters.

“Hey,” He says. “I think I’ve seen that poster before.” _Thinking back, it does look kind of familiar._

“Who CARES!? Let’s go!? I am sick of this place!” Her voice gets lower. “And I’m not felling so good…” Now that she mentions it, I am feeling slightly faint. I share this with them.

“Me too,” the boy agrees. “Alright, let’s go back.” We all agree and continue forward back to where we started.

“Phew, we’re back,” Chie says out of breath. Looking off in one direction, I see her senses activate. “Wait… What’s that?” I follow her gaze to a shadowy figure in the distance.

“There’s something over there!” Yosuke screams. The mysterious creature starts moving towards us with a strange squeaking sound. Coming into full view, I identify it as, a strange bear costume? _What is that!?_

“What is this thing?” Chie asks surprisingly calmly.

“What in the world?” Yosuke is less calm.

“Th- That’s what I wanna know! Who are you guys?” The mysterious bear ask in an unbearably high voice.

“It talked!” Chie screams with a gasp. “What are you!? You wanna fight!?”

“Chie-sempai, calm down. We don’t need to fight.” I say. _We don’t know what this bear thing can do._

“Wh-what she said. D-Don’t yell at me.” The creature cowers over in fear.

“We aren’t going to hurt you, okay?” I speak in as calm of a tone as possible. “Now, please tell me. What is this place?”

“This place is what it is. It doesn’t have a name. It’s where I live.”

“You… live here?” My male friend sounds surprised.

“If I was you guys, I’d hurry back to the other side. Some’s been throwing people in here. It’s a big headache.” _Throwing people in here!?_ Before I can ask him to elaborate, Yosuke beats me to it.

“Throwing people in? What’re you talking about?”

“I don’t know who’s doing it, I just want them to stop.” The bear stomps his feet.

“Hey, what’s your problem? What gives YOU the right to yell at us like that!?”

“Chie-senpai, please!” Before I know it, the bear runs over to me, using me as a barrier between him and Chie. _I don’t really blame him._

“I already told you…  Anyways, you should hurry back.”

“What it comes down to is, you want us outta here, right?” Yosuke adds. “Well so do we! We just don’t know how, dammit!”

“Yosuke-senpai, stop yelling!” _This bear is already scared and we might need his cooperation._ I turn my body to face the bear. “Can you find us a way to get out?”

“Of course!” The bear taps his foot on the ground three times. Subsequently, three small TV’s appear in front of us.

“What the hell!?” I hear a Yosuke yell.  We all move in front of the screens.

“Can we leave from here?” I ask.

“Yes, now go, go, get outta here! I’m a busy bear!” Before I can thank him, I feel him begin pushing us through the screens.

“Whoa!” I hear Chie yells as we reenter the white vortex. With a trip that feels somewhat shorter than the previous one, the air around me finally feels normal again as the Junes music fills my ears. _Finally_ “Huh… Is this…” Chie mumbles

“Did we… make it back?” Yosuke follows up, sounding as if he’s in shock.

“It would appear so,” I answer. “It seems that bear transported us back to the television we used to enter.”

“Well, I guess it’s good we didn’t end up in some person’s home,” he agrees.

As we all stand in unison, the overhead speakers turn on. “Attention shoppers. Our daily limited-time sale will now begin at the side dish area on the first floor. Why not try the delicious, fresh produce Junes picked for you this morning as your side dish for dinner tonight?” a female voice says.

“Crap, it’s already that late!?” Yosuke commentates.

“Looks like we were in there for a while…” Chie agrees. Yosuke looks off to the side, causing his eyes to enlarge.

“Now I remember where I saw that poster before,” he says. I follow his gaze.

“You’re right, that is the same poster from in the room,” I concur. “I don’t recognize her by name, though.”

“You don’t!?” Chie sounds astonished. “That’s Misuru Hiiragi, the famous enka ballad singer.” She sounded as if it should have been common knowledge.

“Oh, right, the wife from that scandal. I apologize, but singers are not a topic I’m very knowledgeable on.”

“Oh yeah, wasn’t her husband having an affair with the announcer who died?” She seems to be making a connection.

“Does that mean that weird room we saw could be related to her death?” Yosuke points put.

“One could call it a possibility, but I wouldn’t say for certain.” I answer. _I’ll need to try to find out more about that world._

“Now that I think about it,” he adds, “there was the creepy noose hanging from the ceiling…”

“True, but as I pointed out earlier, the noose couldn’t have been used. If she really did die in there, it wasn’t suicide.”

“Uhrg, can you two stop talking about this!? It’s starting to freak me out!” Chie interrupts. I turn to her.

“Right, my apologies. Anyway, we should all go to our homes. I am still feeling the effects of that world so I suspect you both do as well.”

“Right, l-let’s do that,” Chie agrees. All of us in mutual agreement, we travel back to our houses to rest. Once I enter mine, I spot both Dojimas siting at the table with two things of ramen in front of them.

“Hey, welcome home,” Dojima says after notice my presence.  Despite not having a bowl for myself, I decide that it would be rude not to join them in sitting down. “Uh-- Hmm… well, I doubt you’d know…” He seems flustered.  “Have you heard anything about a student named Saki Konishi?” The sudden interrogation surprises me, but I answer calmly nevertheless.

“Yes, a new comrade of mine knows her. There are also rumors going around school that she is the student who discovered the body.” The man in front of me sighs at my response.

“Yeah, that’s true…” His voice trails off. “To be honest… we got a call from her family. She’s disappeared.” My eyes grow larger.

“She did!?” _That would explain why she wasn’t at school today._ “Do you know anything else?”

“No, we haven’t found any clues as to where she might be.” His tone suddenly becomes rougher. “And why do you sound like you care so much?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude,” I quickly defend myself. “I suppose it’s just my detective instincts.”

“No, I’m sorry. Guess I’m just a bit on edge to day.”

“That’s understandable.” We both turn our attention to the news. It’s still talking about the murder case. Nothing catches my interest until in mentions the Amagi Inn. Apparently Yamano had been staying their prior to her death.

“She had apparently been staying there alone. Perhaps she was taking a vacation to recover from her ordeal…?”

The reporter who interviewed Saki interrupts him. “Oh yes, the Amagi Inn! Their hot springs are first-rate.” _Just as off topic as before._ “The manager’s teenage daughter also works there, and it is rumored that she’ll take over in the spring.” _Really? Well, that would explain why she hasn’t been around Chie as that much._ “If that happens, she’ll be the youngest manager on record! I should book another trip there!”

“Uhh… I-I see... Moving along.” The announcer continues his normal report.

“Is the ramen ready now?” Nanako’s sudden voice makes me jump slightly. _I almost forgot she was there._

“Give it some more time,” Dojima responds. A sudden, completely unexpected sneeze escapes my mouth.  “Are you sick? You’re probably still adjusting to the environment.” _Or trying to get over a completely different one._

“You’re probably right. I should be fine, though.” He turns to Nanako.

“Could you get her some cold medicine?” Without a word, she gets up and rushes to the cabinet. “You should get to bed after you take it. With a simple nod in agreement, I follow Nanako, take the medicine, and go to my bed falling asleep the second my head touches the pillow.

Early the next morning, I wake up to the loud sound of many police cars roaring past the house. I race to the window and find three cars traveling quickly in the left direction. _What’s going on here?_ This type of arrangement in a quiet town such as this could never be a good thing. _Dojima’s probably either out there already or will be soon. If that’s the case, he most likely wouldn’t notice me leaving the house to investigate._ With a mix of both my detective instincts and childish curiosity, I quietly leave my room and go out the front door.

Running down the street in the direction the police cars went, I notice the air get thicker and thicker around me. The more I run the harder it is for me to calm the tightening going on in my stomach.  _Something’s certainly wrong here._ Once the sound of sirens sounds as if they could burst my eardrum, I stop and hide myself in a place where I can see their activities. I couldn’t see very much, but what I did see is complete chaos. _What could have possibly happened to of caused this._

Once my eyes focus on what was above the sight, I see a small body hanging from above. I immediately look away on instinct.  Even though I had done a good job of keeping quiet so far, I couldn’t help but let a small gasp escape my mouth. The knot in my stomach got tighter. My eyes have trouble completely understanding what’s going on. I shake my head violently. _Come on, I’m a detective. I can’t be thrown off by such things._ I look a back in an attempt to discover who the victim is. With me only being in this town for a short time so far, I expected to have no idea who it was. Sadly, I was mistaken. I recognized her instantly.

_Saki Konishi._

I don’t know how or why, but the second my mind makes that connection, I’m out of the bush and running back to the house. _Konishi. Why Konishi. Why did it have to be someone I know?_ Reaching the house again, I run back up to my room to think.

The thinking doesn’t stop. It continues on my way to school. It continues during class. It continues when the principle announces her death to the school. It doesn’t stop until I hear a depressed sigh from Yosuke. After that, I snap myself back into focus. _He has it worse than me. I’m just in shock. His friend just died._

“Found dead?” Chie mumbles beside me. _I didn’t even know she was there._ “How could this happen?” The principle continues to talk while I continue to ignore him. After, the assembly, Chie and I begin to walk out by ourselves, Yosuke not seeming to even notice us trying to get him to come along. In the hallway, both of us over hear two girls gossiping about Saki’s death. I ignore it at first, but one line catches my attention.

“Oh, by the way, did you hear? Someone saw a girl that looked like Saki on that Midnight Channel thingy. They said she totally looked like she was in pain. Isn’t that scary?” one of the girls says. _OH, OF COURSE! She must have been who we all saw.  Hmm, I wonder if there’s a connection somewhere._

The girl’s friend just laughs. “Sounds like someone had a nightmare,” she teases. “The media’s been broadcasting their interviews with her nonstop, so maybe they just had Saki on the brain.”

As the two of them walk away, Chie turns to me. “Sheesh, it’s easy to toss around theories if you’re not personally involved.”

“Very true,” I agree. Footsteps soon come from behind me.

“Hey… Did you guys check out the TV last might?” Turning around, I see Yosuke looking incredibly depressed.

“Yosuke! Not you too!” Chie yells at him.

“Just listen for a sec, okay. Something felt off last night, so I watched it again. This time I’m certain it was Saki-senpai. There’s no mistaking it…”

“What…?” Chie seems in shock.

“Now that all this started happening, I’ve started thinking. Saki-senpai died in a similar way to that announcer, right? We found a room in that other world that looked that it could have been linked to the announcer’s death, so…” I decide to fill in the rest.

  
“You think that world and the murders are related, right?”

“Yeah,” he mumbles. _Even though it might not seem like it, I can tell Yosuke’s hurting a lot inside. Maybe trying to find out why she was killed would help him recover._

“You guys know what, I just remembered something,” Chie cuts in. “A few days ago, I overheard some guy being like ‘My soulmate is Yamano, the announcer.’” Suddenly everything clicked into place.

“So in other words, if a person appears on the Midnight Channel, they will be the next victim,” I share my theory.

“We can’t say for sure, but something tells me I just can’t dismiss it as coincidence.” Yosuke seems to agree.

“Also, if we remember what that bear said, someone has apparently been throwing people into that world.”

“So… the killer’s using that place as a weapon?” Chie tries to conform where I’m going with this.

“Exactly.” _Still, what does this mean for us? If that world is a murder weapon, it obviously isn’t safe._

“I was thinking,” Yosuke takes over the conversation again. “If we look around in that place, we might find something that links to Senpai’s death.”

“Yosuke, don’t tell me...” Chie seems to not like what is being said.

“Yeah, we need to go in again.”

“No, we can’t. We should just let the police handle this and-“

“You think we can rely on them!? The murder weapon is a TV, they can’t solve that!” _He has a good point._ “Listen, I just need to know why she had to die like this.”

“Yosuke…” Chie’s voice suddenly turns understanding.

“Okay, I’m in,” I say. _If this will help solve the case and but Yosuke’s mind at rest, I see no reason why not._ “But if we are serious about doing this, we will need some sort of plan.”

“I’ve already got that covered.” I notice that Yosuke is a lot less tense now. “Meet me at Junes in thirty minutes.” I next thing I know, he’s out the door.

“YOSUKE, WAIT!” Chie runs after him. Leaving me all along, I decide to go back to the Dojima residence in order to prepare myself to venture inside the newly found world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey dudes. I know I said that I would include the beginnings of Yosuke’s Shadow battle in this chapter, but I now realize that the Chapter would need to be FAR too long. It will most definitely be in the next one, though. Until then, auf wiedersehen.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been suggested to me that I try to use a lot less actual lines from the game so I will try to do so in this chapter. If you guys respond negatively to this than I will go back to the way it was before. If you respond positively or not at all then I will right this way from now on.

After obtaining my gun from my room, I make my way back to Junes in order to meet Yosuke and Chie. While on my way there, I try to make up some sort of action plan. _First thing we need to do upon returning to the TV world is find that bear thing. It seems to me that he could help us if need be. After that, we will explore without wandering to far from the place where we start out. Getting lost could be the end of us. Maybe we should try to create some kind of map._

The electronic center of Junes gives me a strange surprise as my eyes meet Yosuke with a golf club and rope tied around his waist.

“Hey, you came,” is all he says. Looking around, I notice that Chie is no longer around.

“Where’s Chie-senpai?” I ask.

“Oh, she said she would only go along with this if I gave her money to go get a soda.”

“Okay then, next question. Do you mind telling me exactly why you have a rope tied around your waist and a golf club?”

“Oh, well, the golf club is for self-defense. The rope is so we can be pulled out if that bear thing won’t let us out again.”

“Do you mean like a lifeline?” He nods. “Okay, well then, um…” _I have no idea how to respond to that. Oh well, I don’t have any better ideas._ “Why did you bring a golf club as self-defense instead of something more suitable for battle?”

“Hey, you got anything better?” After glancing side to side to see if anyone was around, I quickly flash him the gun hidden in my jacket. His eyes widen. “Oh, yeah, th-that is better, huh.” He sounds embarrassed.

“Anyway, do you have any sort of plan for once we’re inside?” The smile he had moments ago vanishes.

“Oh, well.” _I’ll take that as a no._

“Oh, you did show up,” I hear someone say behind me. Walking into vision, I recognize that person to be Chie.

“Oh course I did.” _Did she really assume I would abandon the two of them here?_

“Are you two really doing this?” She whines.

“Chie, we don’t have a choice. I need to know what happened here,” Yosuke defends himself.

“I’m going to guess by your words that you’re not coming with us.” _I does make since that one of us stays behind. Someone needs to hold the rope._

“Oh no, I’m not going anywhere near the place again. You two are crazy to even consider going back.”

“True, but Yosuke’s right. If we are correct that this world is how people are dying, than we need to investigate. The police would never be able to solve the crime.”

“But still, that world is dangerous. We can just-” Yosuke cuts her off.

“Look, Chie, we aren’t asking you to come with us. We are only asking you to hold a rope.”

“But-”

“We’ll be fine, Chie-senpai,” I comfort her. It doesn’t have much of an effect, but she does grab the other end of the rope the boy offered to her.

“Right.” Yosuke turns to me as he speaks. “Let’s go.” Placing my hand on the screen, ripples form again. Yosuke and I both enter the portal prepared for the void on the other side. This time, the ride is much smoother and feels shorter. Fog swallowing us once more, we swiftly land on our feet.

“Hey, look, this is the same place we landed before,” Yosuke points out.

“We most likely appear in different places depending on where we enter.” I respond

“W-Wait, you guys again,” a voice from behind says surprising me. Turning in its direction, I see the bear looking at us with wide eyes. “What are you doing here? I though you wanted out?” _He has a good point, we did want to leave last time._ “Oh, oh, I know! You two must be the ones throwing people in here!”

“Wait, wait, hold on a sec.” Yosuke cuts him off.

“I believe you’ve got it wrong. We aren’t doing-” My defense is interrupted.

“No, I’m not falling for it. It has to be you. Why else would you come back?” _He is making a fair assumption, even if it’s a wrong one._

“Listen, please, just give us a moment to explain.” I try to take control of the situation.

“No, YOU listen. I can tell someone’s been throwing people in here. It’s making the world here messed up and I want it to stop.”

“I can understand that, but we aren’t responsible.”

“Oh, yeah, then explain why you would come back. It doesn’t look like anyone forced you in.”

“You wish for me to explain? Gladly.” Before I can begin, Yosuke cuts in.

“What are you even talking about!? We didn’t even know this world existed until yesterday!” _I understand his anger, but we need to calm down. Our anger only made the thing scared last time._

“Yosuke-senpai, please lower your voice. We don’t want to scare him again.”

“But he’s accusing us of murder.”

“I’m well aware of that.” I turn back to the bear. “Listen, please. My name is Naoto Shirogane. I’m here to investigate a murder case.  We think this world might have something to do with it.” The bear just looks confused.

“Murder case? What do you mean by that?” _Does this thing legitimately not know what murder is?_ He gets angrier. “You guys are just trying to trick me.” That was Yosuke’s final straw.

“Okay, listen up dude! I’m tired of you accusing us of everything! We are not the culprit here, we’re the ones trying to catch him!” _Oh well, I guess him exploding was inevitable._

“Fine then. Prove to me you aren’t the one throwing people in here!”

“We don’t need to prove anything! We didn’t do anything wrong here!”

“Just try to understand what we are telling you, please,” I say in a somewhat pleading voice. “People on our side have died every single time the fog arrives.” Somehow, my words change the bear’s expression from one of fury to one of curiosity.

“When the fog appears?” The bear is thinking. “Well, if it’s foggy on your side, that’s when it isn’t foggy here. It’s really scary when that happens. The shadows get violent.”  I can almost see a lightbulb above his head. “Oh, I get it now.”

“Huh, get what? You better tell us!” My friend doesn’t seem to have calmed down at all.

“No, I’m done with questions! You two did it and I know it, so stop. If you don’t than I’m not letting you out again,” it threatens.

“Ha, well guess what,” Yosuke teases, “we don’t need you this time. We’ve gotta lifeli-” Somehow not seeing it before, we both simultaneously realize that the rope is cut off. “WHAT!?” _Great, now Yosuke might have ruined our chances of getting out._

“Listen, please. I promise we will try to help you fix this world if you just try to believe us.” I try to calm the bear back down.

“You- You’ll help me fix this world?” _Oh, good, he seems less tense now._

“Yes, of course we will. That should help our world as well.”

“O-okay, fine.”

“Finally.” Yosuke takes over again. “Now let’s ask some questions. First of all, where are we, some sorta TV studio?” The bear looks confuses again.

“TV? Studio? What does that mean?”

“Oh god, you really don’t know anything do you.” _He is incredibly done with this bear._

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s always been like this.”

“Wait,” I say, “what do you mean always like this?”

“Like I said before, only me and shadows are here.”

“I apologize, but neither of us have any idea what shadows are, nor you.”

“Me? I’m just Teddie. There isn’t anything else.” _Finally, a name._

“Okay then, Teddie, please, we need your help. You keep on saying that people are thrown in here. Do you have any idea where they ended up?”

“Oh, I know were the last person came in!” Yosuke’s head suddenly perks up.

“Last person? You mean Saki-senpai?” He sounds excited now.

“I mean the last person who came in. I dunno the name.”

“Okay then, can you take us there?” I ask.

“Sure, but first.” He reaches into a pocket I didn’t know he had and pulls out two pairs of glasses. “Put these on.” Without much questioning, we both proceed to place them over our eyes. Instantly, our vision clears.

“WOAH!” My headphoned friend exclaims. “It’s like the fog just disappeared!”

“How do these work?” I ask in admiration. 

“I dunno,” Teddie says blandly, “they just do.” _Of course he gave us a vague answer._ “Anyway, we should get going.” He walks off south without checking to insure that the two of us are following. The trail in front of us is just simply a bunch of catwalks. _How exactly does this bear know where it’s going?_ It isn’t until we have been walking for a good five that anything new pops up.

The area shortly in front of us is a long row of shops with a red vortex as a sky. The problem is that we aren’t faced with any old shopping area. Before us is the central shopping district found in Inaba. “Whoa! What is this!?” Yosuke sounds amazed. “Is this supposed to be the shopping district?”

“It would seem so.” I respond, keeping my clam, level-headed persona. I turn to face Teddie. “How long has this place been here?” I ask.

“Not long. A lot of weird places have shown up here.” _Weird places?_ An idea pops into my head.

“Teddie, is one of the places you’re describing an inn?”

“An inn? I don’t know.” _He most likely doesn’t even know what an inn is._

“Okay then. Could you please try to be more specific as to when this place appeared?” _If my hypothesis is correct…_

“About the time the last girl was thrown in here.” _Bingo._

“So in other words, it is a likely conclusion that this place was made for Konishi after she fell in. Interesting.”

“Wait,” _It seems Yosuke is trying to keep up with my mental track._ “so if that’s the case, than…”

“The room we saw before is most likely for Yamano, yes. The real question, however, is why these places are formed.” Turning back to the bear, I ask “Do you know anything else about these places?”

“Not much. All I know is that these places are the reality for who’s in here.”

“Reality for…” My voice trails off. “Ae you implying that these places are, in a way, formed by the people that come in?”

“I dunno who makes these places. I just don’t like it.”

“Of course you don’t.” Yosuke sighs. “Anyway, if this is the shopping district, Saki-senpai’s parent’s store should be around here.” _Her parents own a store?_ Not bothering to ask any questions, I follow my friend down the replica road to a liquor store. Reaching the doorway, I’m not surprised to see another red spiral in front of me. “I knew it. This is the place.” Without any hesitation, he walks over to the spiral and is about to enter until…

“Th-They’re here!” Teddie screams.  I immediately pull out my gun and prepare myself, even without knowing who ‘they’ are.

“Who’s here?” I ask.

“Shadow, I can smell them.” Neither Yosuke nor I bother to ask him what he means by that.

“Yosuke, back away from the entrance!” With the two of them standing behind me, I take my battle stance. As prepared as I am, nothing could have prepared me for what comes next.

Two black, slime creatures appear from the other side of the vortex. They are both wearing some kind of mask. _These must be shadows._ Out of both fear and shock, I hear Yosuke on his back behind me. More and more shadows come to make prey out of us. All in a row, they suddenly begin to change their form into sphere shaped enemies with big lips and a long tongue floating a good five feet above the ground.  Before I can attempt to attack, the voice from before comes back into my head.

“ _I am thou, thou art I._ ” The pain has returned, if anything even worse that previously. “ _The time has come. Open thy eyes and call forth what is within_.” The pain subsiding, I look in front of myself to see a card floating in front of me. With a strange force controlling me, I raise my gun in its direction.

“Per-” I focus on the card in front of me, steadying my aim. “-son-” I move my finger to the trigger. “-a.” As the bullet makes contact with the card, as bright light shines from in as a wave of power rushes through me. Before me is a strange creature. It has a blue light eliminating from its body and caries a weapon that looks suspiciously like a lightsaber. It now by my side, a wave of confidence washes over me and I feel ready to fight.

“Stay calm and listen,” Teddie says from an unknown location.I try to look at where he was standing previously, but find him no longer present. “These shadows have a weakness. Try to find it and use it to your advantage.” _Weaknesses? I’ll have to try._ Somehow knowing what to do, I command the creature next to me to attack with my mind. “ _Zio”_ I think, sending a message to the creature. It flies over to one of the creatures and points its weapon at it. The next thing I know, a bolt of lightning comes from its tip. In an instant, the shadow falls over on its side. _Lightning, is that this enemy’s weakness?_ I command it do to the same to the other. Now they are both down but not dead. I continue to attack until I have successfully gotten rid of them. 

After the battle I find myself face to face with the creature that fought alongside me.  “ _Hello,”_ its voice echoes in my mind, “ _I am the persona Sukuna-Hikona_.” The creature, or as it called itself persona, fades from my vision. Still in shock from the events previously, a sudden hand on my shoulder makes me jump slightly.

“Whoa! What was that!?” Turning around, I see that Yosuke is the body connected to said hand. “What did you say before? Persona? What’s that?” All the questions being thrown at me are overwhelming, especially because I have no answer to any of them.

“Wow, Sensei, why didn’t you tell me you had such amazing power?” I hear Teddie call from behind.

“I-I didn’t know I could…” My voice trails off. “Did… Did you just call me ‘Sensei’?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Please do not do so again.”

“Oh, Okay! Then what should I call you?”

“My name, preferably. I do recall informing you of it before.”

“Okay, Nao-chan. Whatever you like.” _Nao-chan? Well, it is most certainly better than Sensei._

“Carrying on, we should be heading into the shop now.” The others nod in agreement. With me leading the way, we walk to the portal that would take us into the ‘shop’. Before we can do that, however, voices rain down on us.

“I with Junes would go under…,” one of them says.

“It’s all because of that stupid store,” says another. More similar comments continue to pour in.

“Wh-What?” Yosuke sounds confused. “Why? What do they-”

“Oh, have you heard,” a voice says, “Konishi-san’s daughter is working _there_.” The last word is spit out as if it were poison.

“Oh, how could she do such a thing?” another responds. “How could she side with the enemy like that?”

“It’s not right. I don’t know how she could look here parents in the eye.”

“Stop.” Yosuke speaks as if knifes are impaling him with every word.

“Um, Teddie,” I say in a barely audible voice, “You described these places as ‘reality of the ones here,’ right?”

“Yeah, why?” Glancing at Yosuke, I can tell he is thinking the same thing as me. _Those comments make up her reality._

“Come on, we need to go.” Yosuke’s eyes meet mine. “Are you okay to carry on?” _He seems incredibly distresses._  

“Me, I’m fine.” His eyes glow with determination. “Let’s go.” Without a warning, he jumps through the portal. Teddie and I quickly follow. On the other side, I see what appears to be a normal liquor store. Some after, though, move voices ring in our ears.  This time it is a single man.

“Saki, c’mon. You know what the neighbors all say! Don’t you feel any guilt!? We have owned this store for generations! Why are you leaving us now! Is it money, or a guy!? Just tell me why you have to go and work THERE of all places!” Anyone with more than one brain cell could tell that he must be the girl’s father. _Poor girl._

“What?” My friend still sounds confused. “I don’t understand. She… She never told me about any of this.”

“She more than likely was trying to keep you from feeling guilty.” I try to give him clarification. In a blink, Yosuke ran over to a table on the other side of the room covered in photos.

“Hey, these photos. They’re the ones we took with the other part-times.” A new voice is heard.

“I…” _Is that Konishi?_ “I could never say. I never had the chance to tell Hana-chan,” Yosuke’s eyes light up at the sound of his name. “…That he was a real pain in the ass.” _Wh-What?_ The sudden change in tone even surprised me. I can only imagine how he must feel after hearing that. I turn my head to the floor, not able to bear looking at the hurt there must be on his face. “I was only ever nice to him because he’s the manager’s son. But of course he takes it the wrong way and gets all excited. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with him?” _How could she talk like that?_ If it hurts for me to hear, there’s no way Yosuke is taking it well.

“Wh-” he can’t even finish the word. The pain in his voice is excruciating. “Th-that’s a lie. She’s lying. This must me some kind of joke. It has to be.”

“It’s so sad, isn’t it? I feel so sorry for myself.” A new yet familiar voice comes from behind. “Pain in the ass, huh? Ha! That’s my line, right?” Turning around, I see a silhouette in the shadows. All I can make out are two yellow eyes.  The voice, on the other hand, immediately finds a match in my head.

_Yosuke Hanamura._


	7. Chapter 7

Eyes widened, I find my gaze alternating between Yosuke and his impostor. _Could this be one of those shadow creatures disguising itself as Yosuke?_ I look at Teddie with hope for answers only to find him just as confused as I am.

“H-huh? Two of you?” _It seems this is not a common occurrence, even for him._ Without much more hesitation, my headphoned friend runs over to face is doppelgänger.

“W-What!? Who are you!?” He yells.

“Hahaha, you, obviously.” The creature’s voice sound just like Yosuke’s with a demonic echo.  “I know everything about you. I know how you really feel. Cause I mean, screw all of this, you know? Who cares about Junes, or the shopping district, or Inaba for that matter? In the end, this is just a stupid town out in the sticks.” The words leave Yosuke frozen. _Despite the cruelty of the words, they must have some sort of truth to them for Yosuke to react like that._

“What are you talking about!? I don’t think that!” He’s fighting the words with all his might. Even show, the double doesn’t show any sign of backing down.

“C’mon, you know that’s not true. You aren’t really are happy-go-lucky, are you? It’s all a show you put on to make others like you.” If denying the words does nothing, we need a different approach.

“Even so, you could say the same about anyone.” I say quite loudly to insure the yellow-eyed thing would hear. This time he does show more as a reaction, but it is a step in the wrong direction. He smiles at my words.

“Oh, would you look at that, you’ve got your little detective friend brainwashed as well.” _It didn’t take my words into consideration at all._ “It seems you decided to bring your friends on a quest for you, but for what? You say it’s for Saki-senpai, but we both know that’s not true.”

“Stop it!” the real Yosuke cuts in.

“Haha, why show nervous? Aren’t I just some strange thing with your face? Or, maybe not. Just face it. You and I both know the truth. I am you and you know it.”   As the thing talks, Yosuke’s face gets more and more distressed.  “And, I mean, come on. We both know the real reason you came here. You didn’t come here to find out how Senpai died. You only came because you were bored. I mean, what else is there to do out here?”

“JUST SHUT UP!” My friend can no longer hind his anger. _He can’t do that. That’s exactly what this ting wants._

“Yosuke-senpai, please, try to control yourself. Don’t let his words anger you.” I try to talk reason into him, but I doubt it has much effect.

“But look at this place, a world inside the TV. That sounds like fun.” The creature pays no attention to my words.

“That’s not…. Stop. You’re wrong.” Yosuke’s voice is full of defeat.

“Let’s face it. All you’re doing right now is trying to place hero. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“THAT’S NOT TRUE! Who are you!?”

“Heaven’t I already answered that enough times. I AM YOU!” Its voice breaks out into a chuckle. “I am a shadow, your shadow. I know everything about you.” _Ah, so this is a shadow. Why would it be targeting Yosuke?_  

“Screw that! There’s no why that’s true! You can’t be me!”

He shadow gives a victorious laugh. “Hahaha! That’s right! I’m me now!” _So I was right, it was trying to get Yosuke to break down like that._ In the blink of an eye, the shadow erupts into a red smoke. As the smoke clears out, we find the creature gone. In its place, however, we see a stranger looking creature. It appears to be some kind of black, humanoid thing sitting atop a black-striped frog. “I am a shadow… The true self!” Its words are not directed at Yosuke, but at me.  _Why is it talking directly to be now? Is this the shadows way of saying it wants to fight?_

The answer to my questions comes sooner than expected when the creature slams its feet directly in front of me, causing a gust of wind. I fall over, taking some but little damage. “This one’s much stronger than last time! Be careful!” I hear a voice say. _Teddie._ “Whenever you feel threatened, just defend yourself.

Because it worked last time, I summon my persona and have it use Zio. It seems the enemy is weak to it. He falls over onto his back. Taking this as my chance, I shoot a few bullets at it. To my despair, the monster is defeated. After getting back up, he strikes me with his webbed foot. I use Zio again. It has the same effect. Instead of attacking again, it guards itself using its feet. Because, I wouldn’t be able to hit, I leave it be. “That’s it? Boring!” It repeats the same attack it did in the beginning. I repeat the strategy once o=more and the same exact thing happens.

After the shadow guards for a second time, I hear Teddie’s voice once more. “Oh no, he’s about to attack! Defend yourself!” _How did he..._ That’s when it hit me. _This shadow must attack right after defending. Huh, I wonder how_ _Teddie picked up on that and I_ _did not?_ In any case, I do as told. Teddie’s hypothesis was correct. He attacks using wind again.

Our battle doesn’t last that much longer. Soon enough, the shadow falls flat on the ground in front of me. Certain that the attacks are over, I make my way over to Yosuke. He still seems to be in distress, but not nearly as much as before.

“Are you alright, Yosuke-senpai?” I ask with concern.

“Yeah, I think so.” From the sound of his voice, I can tell he’s quite exhausted. He turns around to face the shadow that has regained its original form.  “You, I still have no idea what you are.”

“That thing came from you, Yosuke.” Teddie says. “You need to stop denying it. If you don’t, it’ll go berserk again.”

“Teddie’s right, your denial is fueling it.” I add.

“So what,” Yosuke’s voice has anger in it. “You want me to say that I don’t care about anything, and that I don’t give a damn about Saki-senpai’s death? Cause that’s not true!”

“I know that. I know that you truly care about Konishi and I know that not all of you feels the way this shadow is claiming you do. All I’m saying is that a least one part of you does feel this way. That’s okay, I’m not judging you. We all have a side like this.” Yosuke’s gaze falls to the floor.

“Dammit,” he mumbles under his breath before turning back to his shadow. “I admit it, okay. I know that you aren’t lying. I knew that the whole time, I just couldn’t admit it. But in the end, you’re me… And I am you.” As the words leave his mouth, a smile forms on my lips. The shadow erupts into a glaring blue light. It disappears as a new creature forms in the air. It has a similar look to the shadow in the fact that the head is the same and certain limbs are frog-like. This creature is more humanoid looking, with what looks like a white full body suit and a red cape. _Is this a persona?_ The creature fades with a card taking its place.

“This is my persona…” Yosuke says quietly before collapsing on his knees. “What Senpai was saying about me, she must have been keeping that deep inside.”

“I’m sorry, Yosuke.” I really don’t know what else to say. “But, just try to remember that this doesn’t mean all of her felt that way. The way she talked to you, I don’t think she was entirely faking it.” My comforting makes my friend smile, if ever so slightly. Still, he looks exhausted.

“We should go,” Teddie suddenly speaks. “This world isn’t made for humans; you can’t be in here for too long.”

“Yeah, we need to go.” And with that, we’re on our way back to the location we started at. Yosuke remains silent the entire way.  I take this to mean that I am to remain silent as well.  I only speak again to thank Teddie after he stomps his feet on the ground once more, causing the three televisions appear.

“You two will come back again, right?” He asked in a child-like tone.

“Yes, of course. I intend to keep the promise I made to help you fix this world.”

“Yay! It gets lonely on this side with on one but shadows around. And scary.” _That is true. How had this bear managed to not go crazy he completely alone. I know a large majority of people would have._ “Anyway, next time you come through you need to use the same TV you used the first time.”

“Right, of course. We will remember that.” I turn my gazed back to the televisions.

“Before we go through,” Yosuke say, startling me, “we need to make sure no people are around.” Before I can express my agreement, Teddie comes from behind us and pushes us through. Though catching me off guard, I find myself unaffected by the strange feelings of the vortex as we fall through. _It seems I am beginning to adjust to it._ Crashing roughly onto the other side, we are greeted by a feminine gasp.

“Y-You guys, you’re alive!” the shaky voice says. Looking up at the speaker, I see that it is Chie. Guilt overflows me. _Oh no, how long had she been waiting._

“Huh, Chie,” Yosuke responds, “why are you acting like that?” _She must have thought we were trapped on the other side._ Chie gives the boy what I believe to be a well-deserved slap. 

“What is with you guys?! Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been!?”

“My greatest apologies, Chie-senpai.” I say “This is entirely our fault. We should have considered your worries before investigating.”

“Heck yeah you should of! I was worried sick!” Tears start to flood Chie’s face. “I- I didn’t know what to do. Why didn’t you both come back, dammit!?” Before giving me a chance to respond, she runs away.

“Yeah, that would be our bad. She’s right; we should have told her we were okay.” Yosuke says.

“We should go apologize.” As I turn to chase after he. Yosuke grabs my arm.

“No, let’s wait til she cools down. Trust me; you do not want to be around her when she’s mad.” _He’s most likely right. Still, I feel incredibly bad for this._ “For now, we should go home.”

“Yes, that would be the most appropriate course of action. I am exhausted after that fight. I presume you are as well.”

“Yeah, I’ll just go home, take a long shower, then go to bed. But you know what?” A warm smile forms on his lips. “I think I’m gonna sleep well tonight.”

“Well then,” I walk a few steps ahead of him, “good day, Yosuke-senpai.”

“’Night, Naoto-kun.” Without another word, I turn around and begin my journey back to the Dojima residence. Exiting the building, I am grimly greeted by rainfall. _Oh no, I forgot my umbrella. Oh well, it is only drizzling at the moment, so I should be fine if I hurry._ Quickening my pace, I continue on my way.

Once I’m about five minutes away from my target destination, I hear a voice from behind me. “Naoto!” the voice screams. I turn around to see Yukiko running towards me with her umbrella. Once at my side, she forces me under with her.

“Yukiko-senpai!” I scream in surprise.

“What are you doing? You could get sick!” She lectures. _This is a side of her I have yet to see. Then again, I have only spoken to her once._

“Please, Yukiko-senpai, you don’t need to do this.” This umbrella is not made for two people. Upon my entry, Yukiko has gotten a lot wetter.

“No, I don’t want you getting sick. Now how far away is your home?”

“About five minutes from here, but I couldn’t possibly request you walk me there.”

“No, I’m going with you.” With that, she grabs my arm and pulls me off in the direction I was walking previously. Once I am walking again, I look over at my comrade. I am surprised to notice that she is wearing a Kimono. My shock must have shown.

“Oh, right, I forgot I was wearing this.” She says.

“Is that for the inn your parents run?”

“Yes, they asked me to do an errand for them.”

“Oh, I’m not getting in your way, am I?” _I don’t want to get her in trouble._

‘No, it’s fine. I to be honest, I’ve been looking for a chance to get away. With everything that’s been happening, the inn has gotten quite busy. “

“Ah, yes. I heard some news anchors talk about you. They said you were going to become manager soon.”

“Oh, well, I don’t know about that. I’m just filling in for the moment.”

“Oh, right, sorry.” _I guess that’s what I get for believing what I hear on the news._

“That’s fine. It’s not your fault the news is spreading lies. Well, um…. Oh, I’ve seen you hanging around with Chie and Yosuke-Kun recently. Are you all getting along?”

“Oh, yes, they are quite nice. I’m not used to having friends, so this is a nice change.”  A connection forms in my brain. “Wait, we haven’t been making you feel left out, have we? If so then I sincerely apologize. I never meant to-” The girl cuts me off.

“Oh, it’s fine. I’ve had to work at the inn a lot lately anyway. But anyway, how has everything been with Chie? I know that she can be a bit too much at times.”

_I can see where she’s coming from, but…_ “She has been a good friend. She certainly has a lot of energy, though.”

“Yeah, that’s Chie alright.” A smile forms on her lips. “She’s very supportive. Whenever I’m down, she’s always there to tell me to keep on going.”

“That’s nice.” _I wish I had a friend like that. Then again, I can barely make any sort of friend. The only reason I can talk to these people is because they approached me first._ Turning the corner, the Dojima residence comes into view. I stop walking. “Oh, my house is right up ahead. I can carry on from here. I’m sure you’re needed elsewhere.”

“Oh, yes, if you’re sure. I’ll see you at school.” With that, she turns and half jogs in the other direction. Upon, entering the house, I see Nanako sitting at the table watching the television. It seems she has yet to notice me. _It would be rude for me not to say anything._ I quickly make my way to the seat across from her.

“Oh, you’re home.” Nanako notes unenthusiastically.

“Hello, Nanako-chan. Is your father not home yet?” I ask. She shakes her head. Before I have the opportunity to speak, the news captures my interest. It displays a follow-up report for the murder case. To my dismay, it doesn’t give me any useful information. Observing Nanako’s facial expression, it is easy to spot her dismay.

“Are you okay, Nanako-chan?”

“Oh!” My question appears to have surprised her. “I’m fine.” For most people, her response would have been given no second though. For me, on the other hand, it is an entirely different story. I would know. I have given that response many times in my life and it has almost always been a complete lie.

“It’s okay, you can talk to me. Believe me; I’ve been in your position many times.”

“I’m okay, really. Let’s just watch more TV.” And that we do. Turning my attention bake to the news, I see it discussing a completely new topic.

“The town is famous for the amazing Amagi Inn.” _Oh no, they’re talking about this again._ “Visitors travel from all over just for their fantastic hot springs. Earlier today, we got a chance to interview the soon to be manager, Yukiko Amagi.” _They interviewed her? I’m surprised she would agree to such a thing._

A new voice is broadcast through the speakers. “So what’s it like to be the manager of such a famous inn AND still be in high school?”

“Oh, well…” She seems flustered.  “I’m not exactly manager. I’m only temporarily filling in for my mother.”

“Oh, come on! You are too modest. But that’s beside the point. What we should be talking about is how amazing you look in that kimono! It must get you a lot of attention from male visitors.” _This man is going on borderline sexual harassment._

“What!? No, I wouldn’t say that exactly.” _How has that man not been fried yet?_ Before I can continue on watching this train wreck, my phone rings.

“Oh, excuse me for a moment.” I excuse myself from the table and race to my room. _Who could be calling me at this hour?_

I answer without checking to see who it is. “Hello, Naoto Shirogane speaking.”

“Good evening, Naoto,” my grandfather’s voice says on the other side of the call. _Oh, right, of course. I haven’t spoken to him since out departure. Of course he’d call me at some point._

“Hello, Grandpa. How is the case proceeding?” I ask.

“Not very well. We don’t have many leads. Nevertheless it is still incredibly busy. I’m sorry I could call you sooner.” _And I’m sorry I never tried to call you at all. I feel terrible._

“That’s not a problem. I couldn’t possibly hold you accountable for things you simply cannot control.”

A soft chuckle comes from the other end. “Thank you. Getting to the point, how have you been doing in Inaba? I’ve heard that that some things have happened there since you arrival.”

“Oh, right, the murder case. Dojima-san refuses to give me any information about the case.”

“As he should,” He says, surprising me.

“What? Why? I’ve worked on cases bigger than this one before. I can assure you that I can-”

“Naoto, I’m not saying this because I don’t think you could handle it. On the contrary, I actually would like to believe that you would handle it better that a majority of the detectives there. However, I did not send you to Inaba for you to slave over a case. I sent you there so you could try to be a normal student for once. Have you even talked to anyone besides Dojima-san? And no, teachers do not count either.”

“As a matter of fact, I have. I actually was with two second years. They’re quite nice.” _Why is he bringing up such a topic now? I am aware of how socially inadequate I am._

“Good, that means that you’re improving already.” _Improving?_ “Even so, you still need to get better at talking to others in normal conversation. It may not seem important now, but that ability will be essential in the future.”

“I know that, Grandpa. What I fail to see is how that stops me in work as a detective.”

“You aren’t just a detective, Naoto. You are a person as well. You need to make friends, join school clubs, have a childhood.”

“I’m not a child anymore!”

“Yes, I’m aware. But the way I see it, it’s almost as if you never were one. Name for me one friend you’ve ever had.”

 “You know I can’t.”

“Exactly. That is not normal. YOU are not normal. No other child I’ve ever met has not been able to name a single person. Even when you do make conversation with people it’s all business. Even with me it’s almost all business. You can’t do that. You can’t-” I hang up the phone. _He will probably be angry later, but I don’t need to hear that. Every word he said was the truth, but that doesn’t mean he has the right to lecture me on it._

Ever since I was young, I’ve been terrible at small talk. I’ve never understood how one could just simply walk up to another and talk. Just talk. According to my grandpa, I’ve always seemed slightly odd in that area. Apparently, I got a lot worse after my parent’s passing. Once I returned to school after the accident, other kids would always try to talk to be. I would always turn them away. After a while, they stop being friendly and began to pick on me. I never would try to defend myself. The teacher would always have to chase them away.

One time, one bully took it too far. He shoved me to the ground and delivered a hard kick to my stomach. Nowadays, I would have been able to defend myself against that relatively easily. Back then, the combination of my small body and puny limbs left me at his mercy. After a few more kicks, a teacher came up and pulled the boy away. Surprisingly for most, I wasn’t bothered by the event to badly and forgave the boy soon after. My grandpa had a completely different reaction. Soon after the incident, he pulled me out of school and homeschooled me. Originally, I was supposed to return once I improved socially, but that event never occurred. My guess is that he saw this as an opportunity to get me some friends and have me go back to school.

Ten minutes after hanging up, I find that he has no intention of calling me back tonight. Realizing this, I change my clothing and climb into my bed. As my brain wonders through countless thoughts, darkness consumes me as I fall into a restless sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

My eyes open to a world of blue and fog. Allowing my eyes to focus, I glanced around at my surroundings. _This is the same place I visited while I was on the train. The Velvet Room, was it?_ The room is the exact same way I left it.

“Welcome,” the man I remember to be Igor says. “Do not frighten yourself. Your body is fast asleep.”  _My body? I understand what he is saying, but that certainly is a strange way of describing it._

“If I am, as you say, asleep, then why am I here?” I ask. _It looks as if I can talk this time._

“You are here because this is where you are meant to be,” he answers vaguely.

“I would like to remind you that this room is one that only those bound by a contract may enter,” the blue-clad girl, Margaret, says. “I assume that your return means that you have done so recently.” _But I haven’t. That is, unless my promise to Teddie counts._

“I would like to give you a gift. Hold on to it,” Igor interrupts. Out of nowhere, a strange Key finds its way into my closed hand. “From now on, you are our guest here. While you are here, we will grant you any help you need on your journey. There is only one thing you require in return. You are to abide to your contract and assume full responsibility for its outcome.”

“I understand,” I answer simply but not entirely truthfully.

“The Persona you now have in your possession is a side of you that shows itself when you face the world around you.” _Ah, yes. Sukuna-Hikona I believe._ “You, however, are a special case. You possess the ability of the wild card.

“Special?” I ask with vain hope of actually understanding the situation I find myself in.

“The ability that comes from controlling a Persona comes from one’s heart. The heard can only be strengthened through bonds. As you form more bonds, the more Personas you will have under your control.”

_Form bonds?_ “I hate to inform you of this, but I may not be the best candidate for this position.”

“We do not pick who receives this power,” Margaret cuts in. “Our only job is to assist in that person’s success.”

“Where will this power lead you, I wonder.” Igor chuckles. “I look forward to finding out. ‘Til we meet again…”

With a strange sensation washing over me, I feel the blue room fade away as I reawaken in my real one. Regaining my senses, I reach over to my phone.

*No New Messages* _He’s most likely just waiting for me to calm down._ In an attempt to erase all memory of the night before from my head, I get changed, eat breakfast, and head to school. On my way there, the sound of a familiar bicycle comes from behind.

“Hey,” Yosuke says hopping off his bike to walk with me. “Did you watch the midnight channel last night?”

“What? Oh, um.” _How am I supposed to tell him no? I must have gotten too distracted my conversation with Grandpa. Was it even raining when I fell asleep?_

“I’ll take that as a no then.” He says tauntingly.

“I apologize. I was exhausted by the time I reached my house. I had gotten a call from my grandpa, and after that I was for the most part out of it. I’m sorry.”

“”From your grandpa? Is everything okay?”

“What? Oh, no. I can assure you that everything is perfectly alright.” _It’s strange that he focuses his attention on that part. Most people I’ve met would have scolded me for messing up, completely ignoring anything else._

“Oh, well in that case, it’s fine that you missed it. The picture was really blurry, so I couldn’t tell who it was. I think it was a girl, though, about our age. I couldn’t figure much else out, though. Still, we can’t ignore this.”

“Very true. If this girl is on the midnight channel, then she will more than likely be the next victim. We should check this out with Teddie after school.”

“Yeah, we need to find this guy. Murdering a person is bad enough, but to use something like that as a murder weapon, that’s a whole new level of wrong. Also, there’s no way the police can handle this case.”

‘True, it would be hard to convince them of a world inside the television. I could always just stick my hand inside in front of them, but that would lead to all new kinds of problems.”

“Oh yeah, speaking of which, I tried to stick my hand in last night, and it worked.”

“Really? Interesting.” _I wonder if only people who process personas can enter._

“Yeah, it felt really weird, yet awesome at that same time.” _Not the word I would use, but okay._ “I feel as if as long as you are with me, we can crack this case together.” Now outside the school building, he extends his hand. “Let’s do our best, partner.” Returning the shake, I hear a strange voice in my head.

_Thou art I… And I am thou…_

_Thou hast established a new bond…_

_It brings thee closer to the truth…_

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating_

_Personas of the Magician Arcana_

I can feel the power flowing within me. _A new bond? Could this be the thing Igor mentioned?_ After we each release our grips on the other’s hand, we walk into the school building and travel to our respective classrooms.

Another day of boring, intolerably boring lectures comes to pass as I clean up my things and go to meet my senpai. In front of the stairs leading up to the second floor, I spot a familiar man in a leather jacket. _Oh, that is the man who defended me against_ _Sugimoto-san. I should thank him. Grandpa did request that I attempt to become more social._ Before I can talk myself out of it, I walk over to the man.

“Hello, sir, may I speak to you for a moment?” I say politely; possibly a little too much so.

“The hell do you want!? Can’t you see I’m-” Turning to see who had spoken to him, he cuts his sentence short. “Oh, um. H-hey.” With his voice slightly higher, he turns his seemingly redder face away. “I-I mean,” he corrects himself, “What’re you want?” His voice goes back to normal.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to inconvenience you. I only wished to thank you for defending me the other day.”

“For defendin’ you? What’re you talkin’ about?” _Does he not remember?_

“A few days ago, you convinced Sugimoto-san to stop pestering me about the murder case. Though I wasn’t truly in any danger and probably could have handled the situation easily enough on my own, it was still nice to have another on my side for a change. Thank you.”

“Oh, that? It was nothin’. Don’t worry about it.” He tries to walk away, but something inside me tells me to stop him.

“You say it was nothing, and yet no one else stepped in. I’m not implying that is was a great act of heroism, but it should not be written off as nothing.”

“Well, that doesn’t matter. You should have to deal with punks like them. So, um.” The flustered look returns. “Just tell me if he, or anyone, bothers you again… Or don’t, I don’t really care.” With that, he walks away for real this time. As I continue my walk to the second year classrooms, my thoughts refuse to drift away from that man. _Why did he continuously alternate between flustered and tough? It seems odd that one person could switch between such different personality types so quickly. There are only two conclusions to be drawn from this. A) He has some sort of personality disorder, or B) one of them is his true personality while the other is a mere façade. Even so, this person interests me._

Upon entering the near-empty classroom, I find Yosuke and Chie arguing over something. “Chie, just calm down. I’m sure she’s just-” Yosuke starts.

“No, I will not calm down! I’ve been trying to reach Yukiko all day and she won’t pick up the phone! What if the killer got to her!? What if she’s in the TV right now!?”

“I highly doubt that. She’s probably just really busy at the inn.”

“Hello, is something wrong?” I ask, making my presence know.

“Oh, hey, Naoto-Kun.” Yosuke says, noticing my presence.

“Yukiko’s missing,” Chie cuts him off hurriedly.

“Wait, what!? What do you mean she’s missing?” I ask surprised by the sudden realism of the event.

“She isn’t, Naoto, just ignore her,” Yosuke answers.

“How do you know she isn’t missing!? First she shows up on the midnight channel, and then she doesn’t answer her phone. It all makes since! We need to-” It’s my turn to cut someone off.

“What do you mean she was on the Midnight Channel? I was informed by Yosuke-senpai that the image was far too burry to be recognizable.”

“Yes, exactly. Thank you,” Yosuke says mockingly.

“No, but remember, the kimono that girl was wearing looks a lot like the one Yukiko wears when she helps out at the inn.”

‘Do not worry, Chie-senpai, even if it is the same kimono, that is not definitive proof that she was, in fact, Yukiko-senpai. When was your last attempt at contacting her?” I try to maintain a level head.

“Last night, but-”

“I suggest you try again. If there is no response then we shall take the appropriate course of action.”

“R-Right, of course.” The green-clad girl pulls out her cell phone and dials her friend’s number. “No, no, no! I got her voicemail again. Wh-What should we do!?”

“It’s okay, we’ll handle this. She will be alright,” I tell her, and to an extent myself. _Even though it is unlikely the killer would target another so soon after the previous two victims, this concerns me._

“No, no, no. She-she probably alright. Maybe she’s just busy at the inn or something.”

“Okay, now YOU’RE denying it? Great.” Yosuke commentates.

Something clicks in my head. “Wait, perhaps you should try to contact the inn. They might have some information for us.”

“Oh, good idea!” Chie quickly dials a new number. Moments later, someone on the other end picks up. “Oh, hello, is Yukiko there?” she asks. Suddenly, her face lights up. “Oh, she is! Thank god.” A weight on my chest I was not even aware existed lifts. Chie quickly calms herself down. “Oh, no, everything’s fine. I was just worried… No, nothing’s wrong. Don’t worry… Thank you, goodbye.” As soon as she hangs up, a sigh of relief escapes her mouth.

“See, like I said, nothing to worry about,” Yosuke says.

“Yes, but even so, we should still look into this. If it really was Yukiko on the midnight channel before, then she’s in danger. We should check this out with Teddie,” I suggest.

“I agree. If someone was thrown in, we have to help them.” And with that, we’re off. On the way, Yosuke and I explain to Chie what had occurred while we were in the television without her. I leave a majority of the talking to Yosuke, allowing him to pick and choose how much he is willing to share. To my surprise, he goes into further detail than I expected him to. He even mentions everything Saki-san had said.

Just as we finish catching Chie up, we reach the electronics section of Junes. Much to our dismay, the area is full of people.

“Crap,” Yosuke says. “I forgot. There’s a huge sale here today.  Now what do we do?” Yosuke sounds distressed.

“What good is asking that bear thing anyway?” Chie asks. “How do we know he’ll even know anything?”

“Based on what he told us, I believe he must have some way of knowing when and where people are entering,” I explain.

“Oh, I’ve got an idea!” Yosuke cuts in. “There aren’t that many people around right now. How about Chie and I form a barrier while you stick your hand in and call him over.”

“That sounds like a huge risk. If someone sees, we have no idea how they would react.” _This doesn’t seem like a good idea._

“Oh c’mon, just do it,” he pesters. _I guess I don’t have a choice. Even though it is a risk, someone’s life could be at stake._ Before I can change my mind, I stick my hand into the television. Before I can make any sort of gesture, something bites me.

“Ow,” I mumble. I quickly pull my hand out and examine it. Sure enough, I find bright red teeth marks.

“Wh-What happened!?” Yosuke exclaims.

“Something bit me.”

“Are you okay!? That looks painful.” My green-sweatered friend asks.

“Yes, I should be fine. There doesn’t seem to be any bleeding.”

“Ooh ooh, are you playing a game? I like games!” A muffled voice on the other side of the TV replies.

“No, Teddie, it isn’t.” Yosuke sounds frustrated.

“Why did you bite me?” I ask.

“I dunno,” the bear replies. _What is wrong with him? If he were to come into this world, I would take him to a therapist immediately._

“Whatever, anyway, do you sense anyone in there right now?” Yosuke gets straight to the point.

“No, not right now. I’m just as lonely as always.” _Is he trying to guilt-trip us?_

Whatever he’s doing, it isn’t working on Chie. “Just shut up bear!” she screams way too loudly.

“Chie-senpai, please, calm down. We don’t want to bring too much attention to ourselves,” I reminder her before turning back to the television. “Are you certain no one has entered since our departure?”

“Of course I am. My nose is as good as ever!”

“Okay then, thank you Teddie. We’ll get back to you if anything happens.” I turn back to Chie, who looks as if she is desperately trying to stop herself from punching the screen. “I suggest you warn Yukiko-san about this anyway.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll call her on the way home.”

“Oh, you should also walk her to school on Monday, just to be safe,” Yosuke chimes in. “Anyway, let’s all watch the midnight channel tonight. We might learn something else about the next victim.” The same guilt from before washes over me.

“Yes. I’ll make sure to do so.” _There’s no way they would forgive me for missing two nights in a row._

“Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. What’s your cell number? I can call you after I watch it.” After giving him a short nod, I pull out my phone and we exchange phone numbers. Afterwards, we all take off in separate directions. On my way home, I am interrupted by the site of detective Dojima talking with another officer. _Oh, this is my chance to find out more about the case._ Quickly, I stealthily get close enough to hear without either of them noticing.

“Looks like we won’t get much more out of this place,” Dojima’s fellow detective says. “I still have no idea how the killer is doing this. I mean, we don’t even have a single suspect yet.” _That sounds reasonable, considering._

“Forget not having a suspect, we don’t even know how these people died,” Dojima adds. _He said they. That confirms that Konishi died the same way as the first victim._ “Man, what the hell is happening here?” How is this even possible?”

“You know, I thought that I was that Namatame guy at first, the first victim being his mistress and all.”

“No, both Namatame and his wife have a solid alibi. Hiiragi was overseas preforming and eye witnesses place him at his office at the time of the crime.”

“Yeah, I gotta feel bad for the guy. His career is pretty much dead now that he’s fired. He’s about as well off as Yamano.”

“Well, I agree with that. Still, even if the love triangle was involved, that wouldn’t explain Saki Konishi’s case.”

“Why not? The killer could have just been trying to make her keep quiet.”

“True, but she had already told us everything she knew about the body. And it’s not as if the killer tried to hide it. The only possible connection is the fact that she attended the same school as the daughter of the inn Yamano was staying at.” _Yukiko? Why are they bringing her up all of the sudden?_

“Oh, come on. If that were the case then everyone at that school is in danger. And doesn’t that detective chick who just moved in with you going there now?” _They’re talking about me now? How does he even know about me in the first place?_

“What, Naoto? What are you bringing her up for?”

“Yeah, Naoto Shirogane, right? Man, it would be awesome to work with a Shirogane on this case. They’re all supposed to be geniuses. We would probably have a suspect by now.” Hearing him say that puts a smile on my face.

“No, there’s no way we’re putting her on this case.” And there it goes. “She came out here to go to school and make friends while her grandfather’s in America, not to work on a murder case.” _Exactly what Grandpa said._ “And, anyway, I would never want to work with someone that young. It’d practically be babysitting.” _Wait, what!?_ I find myself no longer breathing. _Does he really think that?_

“I don’t know, she’s supposedly really smart. Even if she is young, calling it babysitting might be a bit too harsh,” the other detective defends me.

“Maybe, but still, I don’t want to work with a teenage. It’s insulting.”

“Well, I agree with you there.” Dojima checks his watch.

“Come on, Adachi, we need to check back at the station.” And with that, they are off. _Adachi. That’s his name. I’ll need to remember that._ _In any case, I need to get home before Dojima does._

The walk home remained completely uneventful, as did my return to the house. Nanako gave me a simple “Welcome back” before returning to her quiz show. _I should just go up to my room and study until midnight._ Sadly, no studying happened that night as my mind wanders deep into thought about what Dojima said while continuously debating whether or not I should call my grandpa back.

With all that going on, Midnight came quickly. Rain still slamming down on my window, I make my way in front of the small television. As soon as the day changes, the screen turns on broadcasting a very clear Yukiko. _So it was her!_ I notice many things straight away, such as her strange dress and location. _Is she at a castle?_ Sadly, things were only about to become stranger.

“Good evening! Tonight, Princess Yukiko has a big surprise!” this ‘princess’ Yukiko says as if she were imitating a game show host. “I’m gonna go score myself a hot stud! Welcome to not a dream, not a hoax, Princess Yukiko’s Hunt for her Price Charming! And I’ve come prepared. I’ve got my lacy unmentionables stacked from top to bottom.”  As the last sentence comes out, the screen displays some images I would never want to see again. “I’m out to catch a whole haram and the best of the lot is gonna be all mine! Well, here I go!” The camera pans out while Princess Yukiko elegantly runs towards a red/black vortex on what looks like a castle. As the screen turns black once more, only one thought remains in my mind.

_That was most certainly not the Yukiko-san  I know._


	9. Chapter 9

The sound of rain pounds in my ears as I try to analyze the situation and try to figure out what I just saw. _That was defiantly Yukiko. Still, it makes zero sense.  Why would Yukiko dress like that and say such things? More importantly, where could she possibly be? There is no place like that anywhere near Inaba, so she must be in the TV world. Even so, there was no such place before. It must have appeared when she entered, like the inn and shopping district._

My thoughts are cut off by my phone ringing. _Who could be calling at this hour?_ I answer without checking caller ID. “Shirogane speaking,” I answer trying to sound as calm as possible.

“Naoto-kun? It’s me, Yosuke.” _Oh, right, he did say he would call after we watch the midnight channel._  “Anyway, did you just see that!? That was defiantly Yukiko.

“Yes, but the way she was behaving was certainly strange.”

“Oh, yeah, totally. All that stuff about ‘scoring a hot stud,’ she would never say that.”

“Even so, this confirms that she was the one you saw on the midnight channel last night. Have you tried to get in contact with her yet?”

“No, I’ll do that right-” He cuts himself off. “Crap, I don’t have her number! Oh well, I just call Chie.”

“Yes, you should. I’ll hang up to allow you to do so.”

“Okay, let’s meet up and Junes tomorrow. I’ll tell Chie.” Without even bothering to say goodbye, he hangs up. _I should rest now. If there’s a chance I’ll need to fight today I’ll need to have a lot of energy._ With that in mind, I fall sleep much faster than normal.

In the morning, I practically jump out of bed and change into my normal clothes. _It’s nice to wear something other than the school uniform, even if it is only for one day._ Racing down stairs, notice Nanako watching TV by herself. _Oh no, I forgot about her._

“Good morning, Nanako-chan. Has your father already left?”

“Yeah, he said he wouldn’t be back for a while.” _I can’t leave her home alone, can I? But I have to. Yukiko’s life is at stake. On the other hand, how will Dojima and Nanako view me if I just leave like this?_ “Do you need to go somewhere?”

“Oh, um.” _How am I supposed to leave her like this? I wonder if this is how Grandpa always felt leaving me by myself at home._

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine by myself.” _Exactly what I would have said. She doesn’t mean it; she just doesn’t want me to feel bad for leaving. Still, I have to choice but to go._

“Thank you, I’ll try to not stay out for too long.” I leave as quickly as I can, not allowing my guilt to grow any larger than it already has. Though the walk from the house to Junes isn’t very far, today it felt somehow shorter. I arrive at the food court only to see that neither Yosuke nor Chie has shown up yet. _I’ll just wait here, then._

After approximately 5 minutes of waiting, I spot Yosuke walking over to me with his hands behind his back. “Hey, sorry I took so long. But dude, check out what I found.” He moves his arms in front of himself to reveal and Katana in one hand and a nata in the other. My eyes widen in surprise as I instinctually move to disarm him, stealing away his katana. As I go for the other sword, he pulls away. “Hey, whoa, what are you doing!?”

“This is a public area; you can’t be waving around swords!” _Seriously, what could he have been thinking? He could have at least tried to secretive about it like I have been for my gun._

“Dude, it’s fine. And you can have the katana if you want.”

“I think I should keep my gun for now.” I hand the weapon back to him. “Why do you even have swords, anyway?”

“Oh, I thought we could use them against shadows and stuff.”

“What? No, you must have miss understood me. What I meant to ask is where did you get-”

“HEY!” A somewhat familiar voice comes is head from behind me. I quickly turn around to see the detective Dojima was talking with last night, Adachi. “What are you guys doing with swords in a food court?”

“Oh, no no, this isn’t what it looks like!” Yosuke defends himself. “We aren’t doing anything bad, I promise!”

“It’s true, sir. This man meant no harm in bringing these weapons. I can insure you I have the situation under control.” I stretch out my hand to him. “My name is Naoto Shirogane, I am a detective. I would show you my badge, but it appears that I left it at my house.” At the mention of my name, his eyes widen.

“Oh, you’re Naoto Shirogane! I know who you are. I’m your current guardian’s partner. He told me about you.” He grabs by still stretched out hand and shakes it. “Nice to meet you, I’m Tohru Adachi.” We both pull away. “Looks like you didn’t spare any time getting into trouble.” A laugh escapes his lips.

“Oh, no. It’s like I said, we aren’t trying to cause trouble.” The detective laughs again.

“I know, I know. I was just messing with you. I believe you. And no, before you ask, I won’t tell Dojima about this. That is, as long as you don’t tell him I was here instead of working. Man, it’s been so busy up there lately, especially with that Amagi girl missing.” Yosuke and I both give each other a terrified look.

“Wait, did you just say Amagi? As in Yukiko Amagi?”

“Wha- Oh crap! Um, pretend you didn’t hear that.” He tries to run away.

“Wait, detective Adachi!” I grab his are. “Did you just say Yukiko Amagi is missing?”

“Oh, so you’re friends with her, then?” We both nod. “Okay, fine, but don’t tell anyone else about this.” He gives a quick look around. “Okay, so last night we got a call from her parents saying she was missing. With it being the weekend, everyone was super busy. No one was really keeping an eye on her. Of course, that doesn’t mean anything yet. Still, with a murder case going on, we can’t be too careful. Of course, with that going around, some of the officers have started to think that maybe Ms. Amagi is trying to lie low for one reason or another.”

“Wait, are you saying that-” Yosuke tried to say.

“Anyway, I should get going. See you around!” He takes off running again, and this time I let him.

“Does he think that Yukiko-san is-”

“Hey, who’s that guy you were just talking to?” Yosuke once again gets cut off, this time by Chie as she (finally) arrives.

“He’s Adachi, a detective. He wanted to know why we brought swords with us to Junes.” I answer.

“Anyway, that doesn’t matter right now.” Yosuke cuts in. “Chie, somethings going on with Yukiko-san!”

“Oh, you guys know already? Yukiko is really missing this time!”

“Adachi-san was just telling us about that.” I say in a calm, steady voice. “According to him, she disappeared sometime last night when it was extremely busy. Some of the officers have theorized that she is hiding to ’lay low.’”

“Wait, they think Yukiko is the killer!? What the hell is wrong with them!? She’d never kill a fly let alone a person!”

“Chie-senpai, I’d advise that you calm down. They have absolutely no evidence to support her being the killer besides the fact that she is missing. Right now we should just focus on finding Yukiko-san.”

“Naoto-kun’s right.” Yosuke agrees. “As long as we manage to get her home safely, everything will be fine. And with the police having no idea what’s actually going on, it’s up to us to do this.”

“Yeah!” Chie screams enthusiastically. “Oh, and I’m coming too this time.” Yosuke and I share a glance.

“Um, are you sure that’s a good idea?” he questions.

“Of course it is! I’m saving Yukiko no matter what!” _She isn’t leaving either of us any room for argument._

 “That should be fine,” I say tentatively, “just as long as you remain by one of our sides at all times. As of right now, you have no way of fighting shadows.” I turn to Yosuke. “Perhaps you could give her one of your weapons.”

The boy reluctantly hands her his nata.  Chie laughs in response. “I don’t need that. My kung- fu skills should do the trick!” She imitates a crane stance while making a strange sound with her mouth. _Perhaps this is an even worse decision than I originally believed._ _Even so, her determination may prove her to be a magnificent ally._

I am suddenly reminded of something. “Oh yeah, I had forgotten, where exactly did you come across those swords? I can’t imagine they were easy to find.”

“I bought them at this one place in the shopping district.” Chie’s face lights up.

“Oh, do you mean Daidara Metalworks? I heard some kids talk about it in class. They sell a bunch of armor and weapons and stuff.”

“Really?” I question. “I’m surprised a place such as that could be found in such a small town.” _I should make note of this. It could be useful on such a dangerous mission._

“Does that really matter!?” My green-clad friend exclaims out of nowhere. “What are we still doing here? We need to go help Yukiko!” She takes off towards the electronics department. Yosuke and I run after her. Once we finally reach her, she is already climbing into the TV.

“Damn it, Chie! Wait for us!” Yosuke jumps in after her, as do I. Reentering the shadow world, we spot Teddie in the corner looking uncharacteristically distressed.

“Oh, hey, it’s that bear-thing again!” Chie notices.  “What’s it doing?”

“Can’t you tell, I’m thinking.” Teddie answers, though the question was no directed to him.

“Has your thinking told you anything about where Yukiko could be?” She gets straight to the point.

“Yukiko? Who’s that?”

“She is a friend of ours. We believe she may have been taken her yesterday. Do you know anything about that?” _Chie-senpai must remember to be calm around him. Any yelling freaks him out to the point where we would get a response._

To my disappointment, gentleness didn’t seem to work this time as Teddie’s eyes never leave Chie. “Oh, you weren’t here last time! What’s your name!?”

“My name? Um, it’s Chie. Anyway, answer Naoto-kun’s question!”

“Wha- oh, right! Someone’s defiantly in here! I spelt them right after I talked to you guys.”

“Thank you, Teddie. Do you know where she is now?” I ask.

“Somewhere in that direction.” He gestures to the right. Without any sign of hesitation, Chie takes off.

“Chie-senpai, please stay with us! You don’t have a persona!” I yell. We all chase after her until we are met by a huge castle with another red vortex.

“Wha- What’s a castle doing her!?” She screams in surprise. “Is this where Yukiko was when she was on the midnight channel?”

“That would be the most plausible explanation.” _Still, why would Yukiko’s presence form a place such as this? How could this be ‘her reality’?_ “Speaking of last night’s program, I don’t believe we have had a proper discussion on her behavior.  You two must have found it odd as well”

“Well, yeah,” Yosuke answers. “Who could imagine Yukiko of all people saying stuff like that? But still, it makes me wonder. Is this like that whole thing with my shadow?”

“What, so you think that wasn’t Yukiko, but her shadow?” Chie asks, bewildered.  “Ugh, I have so many questions I don’t even know where to start!”

“I disagree.” _Everything is starting to piece together._ “That would explain her odd behavior. Yukiko may not act that way on the outside, but perhaps she is truly like that on the inside, causing her shadow to form.”

“Hey! That’s not true! There’s no way she’s like that!” Chie looks as though she is about to jump me. My headphoned friend notices and jumps between us.

“Whoa, Chie, calm down! We don’t have time to sit and argue about this! What happened to you being so eager to save Yukiko?”

His words seem to have snapped her out of it. “You’re right! Yukiko’s here! We need to save her!” The girl once again runs ahead of us. Just like the previous times, we run after her. Before we can walk through the portal, however, Teddie stops us.

“Wait! Hold on a minute!” He screams out to us.

“What is it, Ted? We’re kinda in a hurry.” Yosuke sounds irritated.

“I should warn you. I can smell shadows in there, lots of them.”

“WHAT!? Why didn’t you tell us earlier!?”

“Come on, Yosuke-senpai. We can’t leave Chie-senpai all by herself in there.” I try to calm him down. _It seems both of my newfound friends need to learn how to control their emotions._

“Right, c’mon. Let’s go.” Without any farther hesitation, we travel forth into the strange, shadow-infested castle.

The inside models a form a castle one could expect to find as a cheesy, video game dungeon. “Alright, partner, let’s go find Chie. She won’t be able to defend herself on her own.” _Did he just call me partner? Am I his partner now? His equal? This is a strange feeling. Most people I have met would even hesitate to work by my side, let alone as equals. Is this what it is like to actual talk to people my own age as friends. It is a wonderful feeling. I could get used to this. Then again, I wouldn’t want to push myself onto them. I’m sure they wouldn’t want me around once the case is over. What could I possibly offer as a friend? I’m so inexperienced._

“Hello? Earth to Naoto-kun.” A voice snaps me back to reality. “What are you doing? We need to go find Chie.” _Oh, I must have zoned out. I’m so stupid. He must think me to be a fool._

“My apologies. Let’s go.” I run past him down the hall. _Where could she have run off to?_

Thankfully, I have a fluffy bear-friend to help. “Oh, I can smell her!” He says inside my head. “Run straight and take your first right.”

“Whoa! Teddie?” Yosuke sounds confused. _Oh, right, Yosuke wasn’t able to hear him before. I wonder why he can hear him now. Is it because he has a persona?_

“Come along, Senpai. Let’s go.” I grab his arm to pull him along. Thankfully, Yosuke doesn’t question how Teddie is speaking to them very much and carries on. _How is he speaking to us, anyway?_

Following his instructions, we find ourselves in front of a huge door. “She’s in there!” Teddie declares.

“Alright, ready partner?” _He called me partner again. So it wasn’t a simple slip of the tongue last time._

“Of course.” I ready my gun while my ‘partner’ pulls out his sword.  With of a sharp nod, we push open the doors.

This next room slightly resembles a ballroom, just with more carpet. In the middle, Chie stands looking up at where the wall and ceiling meet. Yosuke runs to her. “Chie! Are you alright?

“She said that red looks good on me…” a voice says from above. _It that Yukiko-san?_   “I hated my name… Yukiko… “Snow”… Snow is cold and melts quickly. It’s transient, worthless. But it’s perfect for me… Apart from inheriting the inn, I’m worthless. Still, Chie said that red looks good on me.”

“Are these…” Yosuke mumbles. _Yukiko’s hidden thoughts?_ I finish in my head.

“Chie was the only one who gave my life meaning,” the empty voice continued. She’s bright and strong, and she can do anything. She has everything that I don’t. Compared to Chie, I’m… I’m… But still, she protects me. She looks after my worthless life. And I… I don’t deserve any of it. Chie is so kind.”

“Yukiko?” The word’s barely escape my green friend’s lips.

“’Chie is so kind,’? Haha, that’s funny.” A new voice emerges, a much more demonic one. Appearing from a puff of blue flame, a yellow-eyed Chie enters the room. _Oh no! This is her shadow. It must have come because of what Yukiko was saying._ “Am sorry, but does she really think that I’m her ‘savoir’ or something like that!? Haha, that’s hilarious! And aw, look at that, she thinks she’s worthless! Just as she should, right?”

“Wha- No, of course not!”

“What? But of course it is,” The shadow continues. “Look at her. Perfect skin, perfect hair, all the guys drooling over her. A girl like at being jealous of ME, man, that is just perfect. It means that she knows her place.”

“NO! SHUT UP! STOP SAYING THINGS LIKE THAT ABOUT YUKIKO!”

“I’ll stop saying them once you stop thinking about them.”

“Stop it! You aren’t anything like me!”

“No, Chie, don’t say that!” Yosuke warns her.

“Oh wow, would you look at that. It looks like we really are the worthless one. We can’t do anything by ourselves. But still, Yukiko depends on us. Haha! Isn’t that hilarious? Well, actually, I don’t need to ask that. I already know what you’re thinking. I am you, after all.”

“NO YOU’RE NOT! YOU CAN’T BE! YOU’RE NOT ME!”

“No, Chie!” Yosuke tries to stop her, but to no avail.

At Chie’s words, the shadow erupts into demonic laughter. Before we know it, the room is filled with black smoke.

_This will not end well._


	10. Chapter 10

Right before our eyes, the shadow transforms from a Chie lookalike to a strange, yellow, banana-shaped creature sitting atop what appears to a three struggling school girls. _Well this is an interesting choice of form. It doesn’t exactly look equipped for battle, but I shouldn’t underestimate it. It is a shadow, after all._

“Quick, you need to help Chie!” Teddie screams. _Right, we need to fight this thing._ I glance over at Yosuke to make sure he’s ready.

As if he’s done it hundreds of times, he whips out his sword and slices the tarot in front of him.

“Jiraiya!” He calls his persona to appear. I stop him before he can attack.

“No, allow me to go first,” I command as I summon my persona and order him to use Rakunda. _This should lower its defense._ “Go, now!”

“Alright. Go, Jiraiya!” Upon my partner’s command, his persona summons a gust of green wind to attack the enemy. In an instant, the shadow falls to its knees, too weak to stand any longer. _That seems too easy. This can’t be the end._

“Oh, oh! She’s weak to wind! Keep it up,” Teddie’s annoyingly high voice squeals.

“Alright, partner, let’s knock her out!” Yosuke demands.

“Understood!” I reply readying my gun. In a furry, we both simultaneously rampage on the shadow, dealing a significant amount of damage. As I had predicted, this is not the end. Even after our attack, the creature stands once again.

“Oh, it looks like you won’t understand without a little pain!” She screams as she casts a spell of her own. It sends a sends a blue lightning bolt at us from above. For me, it causes little damage. Yosuke, on the other hand, is knocked to the ground.

“Yosuke-senpai, are you alright?” I ask, taken slightly off guard.

“Oh no, Yosuke’s weak to that one,” the high-pitched voice says. _She must be targeting Yosuke because I don’t have any wind spells._

The shadow makes use of my confusion by attacking Yosuke once again. “No!” I scream as I run towards him in an attempt to block the attack.  Sadly, my attempts are in vain as she sends her whips down on my friend. _Damn it! It looks like I must make protecting Yosuke my priority._

“Tarukaji!” I cast a spell on Yosuke to bring up his attack. _This should help._ As of right now, I do not possess any healing spells.

As I rush over to help Yosuke to his feet, shadow Chie summons a green force field around herself. I grab Yosuke’s hand and pull him up. “Are you okay, senpai?” I ask.

“Yeah, but I’m pissed now!” Without missing a beat, he casts the same attack as last time. This time, however, it has a way lesser effect. “Whoa, what?”

“Its last attack must brought it’s resistance up. Let’s only use our weapons for now.” I draw aim my gun and fire three times.

“Right!” Yosuke mimics my actions with is nata.

“Haha!” The shadow laughs. “You two are both so serious, and yet we’ve only just begun.” She throws an attack at us, this time a blue light. My partner manages to dodge while it hits me dead on. Though it hurts slightly, it doesn’t stop me from fighting back. We attack it with our weapons once again.

“Its resistance might have worn off. Try your wind spell again.” I suggest.  Yosuke complies, once again knocking her to her knees. “Okay, let’s go!” In one more all-out attack, we weaken her greatly.

“Ngh… Don’t make fun of me… You’re nothing against me!”

“I would beg to differ.” For one final attack, I send Sukuna Hikona flying at her. With one final scream, the shadow falls to the ground, illuminated in a black and red glow. Within an instant, we all run to Chie’s side. It seems she had collapsed when the shadow transformed.

“Are you alright, Chie-chan?” Teddie asks. _When did he even get here?_

“Wh-What was that? What happened?” She struggles with her words. Looking up at her other self, the lookalike remained silent. “What? Are you done now?”

“Hold on, Senpai. Please, control yourself. You are alright.” I try to calm her down. “None of us are judging you based on what we saw, same as with Yosuke-senpai. We understand.”

“Yeah, exactly,” Yosuke adds. “We all know what’s going one. We know that everyone has more than one side to them. It’s alright.”

After a long pause, Chie looks make at her shadow. “Yeah, I think I understand now. You are me, in a way. A side that I hate, one that I tried to forget existed. Still, nothing I can do will change that fact that you are a part of me.” With those words, the Chie-doppelgänger gives off a blue light as it transforms into a Persona. ‘ _Tomoe_ ’ something inside me says.

“I-I,” Chie continues, “I guess I really am like that deep down. But that’s not really what I feel about Yukiko. “

“Oh come on, like we didn’t get that from the way you just stormed in here by yourself.” After my friend’s words leave his mouth, the girl in front of me collapses onto her knees. “CHIE!”

“I-I’m okay, just tired.”

“Come on, Chie, you don’t need to act strong for us.” Yosuke looks back up to me. “What do you think we should do from here?” Glancing down at Chie, she certainly doesn’t look okay. Her breathing is heavy and I highly doubt she could walk more than a few steps without falling over. _Perhaps we should rest for now. In any case, Yukiko should be fine until the fog comes again._

I share my thoughts with the others. “Agreed.” The two boys say in almost perfect unison.  Chie opens her mouth to argue, but decides against it. It seems I’m not the only one who noticed.

“Chie, don’t worry. Yukiko will be fine,” Yosuke assures her.

“But still, if those really were Yukiko’s true thoughts, then I need to talk to her. She kept on saying that I am so strong, but she’s the only reason I am.  She is my strength, and she needs to know that.”

“And that she will,” I add. “Once we make our way through this place and rescue her, you can tell her. That would not be possible if we run in blindly and get injured. Who will save her then?”

It seems my question gave her a lot to think about as it takes a while for her to respond. “You’re right.” She pulls herself off the ground using Teddie’s head. “Oh and, um… I-I’m sorry about before, when I rushed in here. I shouldn’t have done that.  

“That’s quite alright, Chie-senpai. I can understand your reasons. Just please refrain from committing such acts in the future. Even with a persona, this world is still dangerous alone.”

“Right.” She nods her head in agreement.  With that, we venture out of the castle and back to our original location. Upon our arrival, Chie suddenly becomes weaker and leans on Yosuke for support.

“Whoa, you okay?” he ask with concern over-flooding his voice.

“Yeah, I just feel weak. I don’t know why. Are you guys okay?” I share a glance with Yosuke. _We both appear to be completely fine. Why would Chie be the only…? Oh, of course!_

“Right, I had forgotten, you aren’t wearing the glasses.” I quickly remove my pair and attempt to hand it to her.

“Nuh-uh, there’s no need for that,” Teddie interrupts. He pulls out a yellow pair of glasses. “Here you go, Chie-chan!” _Wait, he had a pair already made that just so happened to match Chie’s outfit exactly. Strange, but I have more important things on my mine._

Chie places the glasses over her eyes and gasps in surprise. “Whoa, awesome! It’s like the fog just disappeared!” Her excitement didn’t last very long. “Wait a minute, why didn’t you give them to me before!?”

“Wha- no! I just made them right now, what more do you want?”

“Oh, well, okay. Hey, can I keep these?”

“Sure, I made them just for you, after all.” _Teddie is starting to sound more and more creepy. Should I be concerned?_

“Alright, cool! With these, we’ll be able to save Yukiko for sure!”

“Yes, exactly,” Yosuke agrees. “From now one we’re a team.” He takes a slight pause. “If we’re a team, we’ll need a leader.”

“Oh, oh!” Our bear friend exclaims. “I nominate Nao-chan!” _Wait, did I just hear him right? He thinks I should lead? What could have made him come to that conclusion?_

“No way, I’m not a leader! If anything, Yosuke-senpai should lead us. He seems to have a good feel for the situation and acts like a natural-born leader.”

“Oh, come on, Naoto. Stop being so modest,” the green girl says. “You’re a detective, I’m sure you’re smarter than the two of us combined.” 

“Not only that, but you seemed to be good at giving orders during that last fight,” Yosuke adds. _They truly want me as a leader? No, they must me judging the situation wrong._

“I don’t believe you understand. Being a leader is not about being smart or bossy. Having good social skills is also very important. I am quite certain any of you would beat me by a long shot in that area.”

“Social skills?” Yosuke sounds confused.

“Yeah, you seem perfectly fine to us.” _Perfectly fine? Me? Have I really been doing an adequate job as a friend? Even so, I highly doubt that would last very long._

“Perhaps I may have been preforming medically as a friend to you, but that is merely because you gave me a push. Without me being approached first, I am certain I would have been spending my lunches in the library and days off at home.”

“So what is you need a push, I still think you would be a great leader.” Though his words make no sense to me, my partner says them with such certainty I begin to believe them to be true. _Well, if they are all in agreement…_

“I believe I have no other option than to agree with you. I will try my best. If I do not seem adequate as time goes on, feel free to replace me with another. I will not blame you.”

“Somehow, my answer make’s Chie chuckle. “Okay, fine, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”

Out of nowhere, a bright light overflows my vision and a voice enters my head.

_Thou art I… And I am thou…_

_Thou hast established a new bond…_

_It brings thee closer to the truth…_

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating_

_Personas of the Fool Arcana…_

_Oh, a new social link? And more than one person is involved? Interesting, I had no idea that was possible._

“Okay then, we should head home for now. We will need to conserve our strength.” I turn to Yosuke. “Could you please walk Chie-senpai home, just to be safe.” I quickly turn back to Chie. “I mean no offence. I only believe that you may be suffering minor side-effects from these events. I would request the same for anyone.”

The girl chuckles once again. “See, you’re a leader already.” Blood rushes to my face.

“Anyway, sure, I’ll take her home. Come on, Chie.” After saying our goodbyes to Teddie, we climb through the stack of TVs to the real world.  Upon parting ways, I walk through the shopping center to get back home.

Out of nowhere, I hear a strange sound come from behind me. I turn around to find a blue door on the wall next to the weapons store Chie-senpai was talking about. _What? When did that get there?_ I give a quick glance to the pedestrians passing by. _None of them seem to be noticing. Is it that I am perhaps the only one who can see this door? Why would that be?_

 _“So, the time has finally com. Now, would you kindly step inside for a moment?”_ a voice says in my head. _Is that the mysterious man I meat before, Igor?_ A blue light erupts from my pocket. _It’s the key given to be before._ After making sure no one was watching, I quickly use the key on the door. Opening it, I am blinded by a bright light.

“Welcome,” Igor greets me. My eyes finally adjusting, I see three familiar faces. Two I place immediately, Igor and Margaret, but the other I have a harder time with. _I know I’ve seen this person previously, just not in here._ “It seems the catastrophe you are destined to meet has already taken lives to get to you. This should not bring fear to your heart, for you already know how to fight. It seems you will soon be in need of our services.” _Ah, it seems my questions will finally be answered._

“You have the ability of the wild card,” Margaret clarifies. _Wild card? I wish they would stop being so vague._ “As you grow more bonds, you will become more powerful as a result. Our role is to assist you in doing so.”

“Our job is to give your bonds the form of personas. As you gain more and more personas, I can fuse them together to create even stronger ones. You have the ability to hold multiple personas.” _Is that what he means by ‘wild card’?_ “As my assistant has just said, as your bonds get stronger and you develop you social links, you will gain more power.”

“Excuse me, sir,” I cut in, “would you mind if clarify what you have just said? Are you implying that I cans obtain more than just my initial persona by talking to others and forming so called ‘bonds’?”

“Exactly, my dear.” _So I need to meet more people and start more ‘social links’ in order to gain more power. I already have the Magician Arcana with Yosuke-senpai, as well as the Fool with my all of my friends. That would be two down. How many of these would I need?_

“Oh,” Margaret says, “and one more thing, if I may. I would like to introduce to you our third member of the velvet room.” _Yes, the new girl. I had forgotten about her._ The unfriendly girl shows no intention of introducing herself. _Ah, I remember now. This is the girl I had met on the first day at the station. So much has happened to her, I had forgotten_. “Marie?” Margaret attempts to gather her attention.

“Yeah, I heard. Nice to meet you, I guess.” The blue-hatted girl says in a voice completely devoid of emotion. _It seems she has forgotten me as well._

“It is nice to meet you as well, but I believe this is our second, no, third meeting.  I saw you at the train station, I’m not sure if you remember.”

“Hm, maybe. You do look familiar. Anyway, my name is Marie.”

“She is a bit impolite at times, but please forgive her for that,” the older woman says as if the one in question is not in the room.

“Maybe I would be a lot nicer if you didn’t keep me locked up in here,” Marie mumbles to herself.

“Marie, please, you know little to nothing of her world. We cannot have you causing havoc.”

“Fine then,” The girl stands. “I’ll have this girl with me.” _This girl… Is she referring to me? When did I volunteer for such a thing!? Then again, if I were to show her the town, it is possible that we will form a social link together. I need as many of those as I can._

“Marie, do not force our guest into-”

“Pardon the interruption,” I say, “but it wouldn’t be a bother.”

Marie’s eyes light up. “Really? Awesome. Let’s go.” She roughly grabs my arm and pulls me out of the velvet room. “Finally, fresh air.” She turns to me. “So, where are we going?” _Oh, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. All I know of in this town is Junes and a weapons store. I highly doubt she would like to go to either of those places._

Thankfully, I am saved from answering the question when I hear a voice come from behind me. “Hey, Naoto-kun!” I turn to see Yosuke half-jogging in my direction.

“Oh, hello, Yosuke-senpai. Have you successfully returned Chie-senpai to her home?”

“Yeah, she seemed fine so I left. What are you doing out here? I thought you would be at your house by now.” 

“Oh, um.” _How am I to explain this to him?_ “I was just looking for a place to take a friend. Would you happen to know a place we could go?”

“A friend… Oh.” It seems he has just now notice Marie, who has been leaning against the wall impatiently. “Who’s this?”

“Oh, right. This is Marie, an acquaintance of mine. She wants to see the town, but I suppose I am not the right person for the job as I know little of this place myself.”

My friend gives a curious look at Marie, who has yet to show any acknowledgement, but for answering my previous question. “I was actually just about to go get a steak skewer down the street. You’re welcome to join if you want.”

“Steak skewer?” Marie questions under her breath. “I want one of those. Take me.” Her voice is much more demanding than before.

“Oh, um, okay then. Let’s go.” With that, Yosuke leads us to a stand not much farther down the road. “Here we are.”

Pulling away from us, Marie runs up to the employee. “Hey, get me one of those skewer things.” She orders.

“Sure thing. 320 yen, please,” the kind woman responds.

“Wait, I actually need to p-”

I quickly run to her side and pull take out enough money for the three of us. “Here you go, ma’am. And make that three skewers, please.” I hand the money over. _That was close. I probably should have taught Marie more about our culture before now._

“Oh, come on, Naoto-kun. You didn’t need to pay,” Yosuke says. _Good, he’s focusing his attention on that instead of Marie’s behavior._

“Oh, it’s no bother. My family has plenty of money to share. You could consider it payment for introducing us to this place.”

The velvet room resident looks at me confused. “You need to pay people for that here?” she asks me.

“Not necessarily, no. I am to show my appreciation.”

“Wait, Marie-chan,” Yosuke starts, looking at me to confirm that he used the right name, “where exactly are you from?”

“Where I’m from? I don’t exactly know how to answer that,” she responds before I can stop her.

Before to many thoughts roam through Yosuke’s head, I elaborate on what she said with lies. “You see, I met Marie-chan through my work as a detective. She is not allowed to say a lot about herself to the public. All I should be allowed to say is that she is from America.” _That’s the only thing I can think of that works in our favor. Now we have a reason to not answer more questions and have an explanation for her western name._

“Oh, I-I see.” Yosuke sounds flustered. Marie opens her mouth to say something but is, thankfully, cut off my the employee.

“Your food is ready.”

“Thank you.” I hurriedly grab the food and put it on the table next to us. “Let’s eat.” We all sit down and enjoy the meal in a slightly awkward silence. Once I’m halfway thought my skewer and the other two are almost done. Yosuke’s phone goes off.

“What is- oh crap! I forgot I need to get back to work. A sale’s going on tonight. See you later.” He runs off.

“He’s weird,” Marie commentates. “But anyway, this thing is amazing. Do you get to eat this every day?”

The question throws me off. “Um, I guess it would be possible is I chose to do so, but I would not recommend it.”

“What, why not? They are so good. And you bought them for all of us. I can’t believe you have so much money. That’s awesome. You’re awesome.” _As off as her reasoning is, it is nice to get such praise._  “And since you’re so awesome, you better do something awesome for me at some point. It’s so boring locked up in that room.”

“That would be understandable.” _It seems Marie has high expectations for me._ Out of nowhere, a familiar feeling spreads throughout my body.

_Thou art I… And I am thou…_

_Thou hast established a new bond…_

_It brings thee closer to the truth…_

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating_

_Personas of the Aeon Arcana…_

_Ah, a new social link. Aeon Arcana, huh. I’ve never heard of that one before._ Looking up, I see the sky darkening. “Oh, I apologize, but I must be taking you back now. I may be needed back at my home.”

“Uhhhh, fine. Just remember to show me more things later. Don’t you dare forget.” She stomps away in a childlike manner. _No matter, poor Nanako-chan has been home all alone all day. I had promised her I would be home as soon as possible. I’m a terrible person._

Upon returning home, I find Nanako and Dojima eating diner. _Well, at least he came home._ “Good evening,” I tell them both as I walk through the door. Not finding it to be my place to intrude on a family dinner, I walk over to the stairs and attempt to go to my room. Before I can do so, however, Dojima calls me down.

“Excuse me, but can I ask you something?”

“Of course, what is it?” I walk back over to the table.

“You aren’t still trying to learn more about the case, are you?” he asks bluntly.

“No, of course not,” I lie. _Where did this come from, anyway?_

“Oh, I see. I’m sorry; it’s just been bothering me. Your grandfather had told me that you’re quite persistent, so I was worried you wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“You’ve spoken with my grandfather?”

“Yeah, he called me a yesterday to ask if you were alright. He told me that you both ‘reached a disagreement,’ as he put it, and you hung up on him. I told him that you seemed alright and that he shouldn’t be worried.” _He was worried about me? I am such a bad person. I should have called to apologize before now for my behavior. I am the one in the wrong here and he is worried about me? No, that is not right._

“Okay then. I’ll call him tonight. I’m sorry for causing you any trouble.”

“Trouble? You haven’t caused any trouble. Anyway, yeah, you should call him. But, just remember that well you’re out here I’m your guardian. Your grandfather trusted me to look after you and I intent to do just that.”

“Understood.” I confirm before running up to my room and dialing my grandpa’s number.

“Hello, Shirogane speaking,” he answers.

“Hello, grandpa. It’s me, Naoto. I’m calling to apologize for the other day. I acted far out of line and made you worried. I’m deeply sorry.”  The words came out so quickly even I had trouble understanding them.

“Whoa, slow down, please. Naoto, what’s wrong?” I repeat myself to him, slowing down my pace.

“Once again, I am so, so sorry.”

“Naoto, you’re fine. There is no need for you to be so apologetic. It seems I was I the wrong as well. It was wrong of me to refer to you as not normal. Not only that, but I never even asked you about how you like it there, or for more information about your friends, or anything a normal parent, or guardian, should.”

“No, there is no need for you to apologize either. I understand how you must have been worried about me. And you are right. It isn’t normal for a person my age to be aloof. I just have trouble talking to most people. I have been trying to, though.”

He chuckles from the other end. “That’s great to here. If I remember correctly, you mentioned that you have befriended 2 second years. How did that come to pass?” I fill him in on all the events leading up to this point. I leave out the parts involving the case for obvious reasons.

Once I am done with my story, he gives me more details about his case. Though I felt exhausted after today’s events, it is always interesting to listen to Grandpa talk about cases. It reminds me of a time when these stories were just, stories. Now, they have become a harsh reality to me.

“Hey, what time is it over there?” he interrupts his own story to ask.

“Um, it is about 9 o’clock. Why?”

“Oh, well then we should probably end our conversation here. I wouldn’t want to keep you up to late.”

“Oh, okay then. Goodbye. I’ll be sure to call you soon.”

“Goodnight, Naoto. Please, stay safe over there, alright?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Good. I’ll call you as soon as I can.” He ends the call. It isn’t until he hangs up that I realize just how tired I was. After clumsily changing my clothes and climbing into my futon, I slowly drift into the best sleep I've had in ages.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can probably tell, I will be starting social links soon. Before I do so, however, I would like to explain who I plan to do them now that way if anyone has any suggestions I can adjust accordingly. If you are not interested in reading all of this, then you are free to only read certain sections. I do not believe it I necessary to read what is below, but I should answer most questions people have.  
> 1\. What Social links will I be doing  
> As of right now, my goal is to do as many social links I feel it is possible to get Naoto into. For example, Dojima and Nanako’s will be simple because she is already living with them. Sayoko Uehara’s will be quite hard because there is no reason for her to get a job at the hospital and the first few ranks will be a mess because Sayoko can’t be hitting on Naoto like she did on Yu. The only ones I know for certain I'll be doing are:  
> • All party members  
> • Dojima/ Nanako  
> • Marie  
> • Adachi  
> • Yumi (requested to me over Ayane)  
> • Kou/ Diasuke (I already have a good idea on how to write Naoto into it)  
> 2\. How will I format the links/ different ranks  
> For a majority of characters, each social link will simply be given an entire chapter. I will not show specific ranks, but I will have moments where Naoto will be like ‘I think I understand______ even better” or something like that. The only social links that will progress throughout the story are:  
> • Dojima/ Nanako  
> • Adachi  
> • Marie  
> • Teddie  
> 3\. How close will I stick to the social links in the original game  
> Though most will stick to the original plot, they will all be quite different. The one that will stay the closest to the original is Marie’s. Adachi’s will be the most changed as I will change the entire plot of it.
> 
> Anyway, that’s all folks. Since school will be out soon for me, updates should become very often.


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning is quite uneventful. As Dojima hasn’t left for work quite yet, I find it okay to leave for school early with the hopes of seeing Chie. Instead, however, a headphoned boy comes in her place. “Hey Naoto-kun, have you talked to Chie today?”

“No, I was actually hoping I could meet her here before school begins.”

“Okay, I’ll wait too. I’m kinda worried about her. She seemed fine last night, but I can’t be too sure.” As if on cue, a green figure is appears father down the road. “Oh, there she is.”

“Oh, good morning,” she says.

“Good morning to you as well, Chie-senpai. I hope you slept well.” _I don’t want her to know I’m worried about her. She may be offended._

“Are you kidding me? I was out cold all night.” Her energetic attitude slowly piped down.  “Um, so, um… Thanks for helping me yesterday. I’m still kinda embarrassed, though.”

“There is no need for that. I can assure you no judgement will come from our end. It would be rude to judge a person based on one side of them alone. Also, if you had forgotten, Yosuke-senpai has gone through a very similar ordeal.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Oh, I wonder what your shadow was like.”

“Oh, um…” Yosuke seems to have no interest in expanding further. “Oh, yeah, none of this happened for you, did it? That seems kinda unfair.”

“Oh, well, um…” _How am I supposed to respond to that? He is right, though. It is unfair._ “I don’t truly have an explanation for that. I have no idea where that power came from.”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect you to have an answer. But hey, maybe that’s just because you have nothing to hide.”

“I can assure you that that is not the case.” The others give each other a weird look. “I’m not implying that I am hiding things from you, it’s just that I’m quite certain that even if I were such an open book, there are problems inside of everyone that even they don’t know about. I highly doubt there is single person in the world with nothing to hide.”

“Well, your right about that,” Chie says with a slight chuckle. “Anyway, we need to focus on saving Yukiko right now.”

“Exactly,” I agree. “That is why I opt that we visit the shadow world after school. That is, of course, only if you are both okay with that.”

“Yeah, we should get her out as soon as we can,” Yosuke says. “Even if she’ll be fine until the fog comes, I doubt she exactly likes it in there.” A loud bell rings over the speakers.

“Oh, we should head to our classes now. I shall meet you after school.”

“Yeah, we should all head to Junes right when school gets out.” With a sharp nod, I enter the school building and travel to my classroom.

Following a growing trend, my classes today are once again tiresome and uneventful. In a way, I am slightly excited to be exploring the shadow world again. After the final bell rings, I quickly grab my things and head to the local department store. Upon my arrival, I see the two people of interest sitting at our normal table.

“I apologize for making you wait,” I enter in on their conversation.

“Oh, hey Naoto-kun,” Chie says in her normal, energetic voice. “Don’t worry, we just go here.”

“In any case,” I continue, “now that we are all here we should enter the television immediately and get Yukiko out as soon as possible.”

“Agreed,” Yosuke nods. On that note, the two of them exit their chairs and follow me the electronic section and into the TV. Once inside, Teddie greets us instantly.

“Hey, you’re back! Great, let’s go save that girl!”

“Wow, you seem excited,” Yosuke commentates. “What’s got you all excited?”

“What, is it a crime to want to save a lady in distress now?”

“Not really, but-”

“Okay then, let’s go!” On that note, we follow the bear back to Yukiko’s castle.

“Alright, let’s do this!” Chie exclaims before racing towards the entrance. Before she can enter, however, Yosuke grabs her arm.

“Dude, you promised to not run ahead this time.”

“Right, sorry.”

“Anyway, I have a gift for you all,” Teddie says while pulling something out of his pocket. “It’s a Goho-M. If you get stuck, you can use it to come back to me.”

“Thank you, Teddie,” I gratefully accept it. I turn to the others. “Alright, now we can go. Please remember to be careful.  Last time we were lucky enough to not run into any shadows on the way to help Chie, but this time we may not have such luck. Be on high alert.

“Understood!”  They both say in unison. I enter the castle first, followed by the other two. We start off again on the first floor. We make it to the second easily enough and then on to the third. _So far we haven’t had to fight anything, but I have a feeling our luck will soon run out._

As predicted, it wasn’t long before we heard a desperate call in our head. “Ah, two shadows!” the colorful bear screams. Sure enough, right around the corner we are met by three strange creatures. One of them I recognized from my first battle as the shadows with the really long tongues and zebra strips. The others are what appear to be a black raven and a table with a cup on top and a mask on the side.

“Whoa, what the hell is that!?” Yosuke screams as the zebra striped on moves towards us.

“Hey, I’ve got this one,” Chie says with an adrenaline filled smile. “Tomoe!”  She sends her Persona at the shadow with an ice attack. The hit kills the enemy instantly.

“Whoa, nice one Chie!” Yosuke cheers her one. He glares at the table. “Let’s do this, Jiraiya!” He cast Garu on the enemy, knocking him down. _This is easier than I anticipated._

“I’ll handle the next one,” I declare. “Come, Sukuna-Hikona!” My blue persona sends a lightning strike at the raven, knocking it down right next to the table.

“Now’s our chance!” Yosuke says, signaling the rest of us to charge the two remaining foes. Our final efforts keep them down for good. “Yeah, awesome!” He cheers.

With the battle won, the world suddenly freezes around me as three cards appear in front of me. _What is happening?”_ Out of curiosity, I reach out to one of the cards around me, causing the others to disappear. Flipping the card over, I see the face of the Devil Arcana. The card materializes into a new persona. This one resembles a combination of a troll and the Devil carrying a spoon with the end on fire.

_“My name is Ukobach. I hope I can be of assistance to you,”_ it says before fading away. Out of nowhere, the world around me moves again. It seems the others have no clue what just happened.

“Ha, that was easier than I thought,” Chie laughs excitedly. “It didn’t even hit us once.”

“Yeah, well in case you didn’t notice those were a hell of a lot weaker than the shadows we fought earlier,” Yosuke points out. “But anyway, it’s probably a good idea to have more fights like that for training. Right, part-” He cuts himself off upon looking at me. “Hey, are you alright?”

“Huh?” _Oh, I must have been zoning out._ “Yes, I’m fine. I also agree with you. We have no idea what to expect when it comes to Yukiko’s shadow. We should prepare ourselves in any way possible.”

And we do just that. As we climb floors and explore more of the “fancy” castle, we encounter more and stranger shadows ranging from two humanoid creatures with metal bars attaching them together at their neck, wrists, and ankles to a creature that appears to be a hand with a head where the wrist should be walking on its fingers. After some of the battles, I am met once again by some cards. Each time I grab one and sometimes gain a new persona. Other times my current persona will get a stronger from it, or sometimes even give me a key for the chests we occasionally find. In those we will find various things that I have no idea how to use. The others have no clue as well. _Perhaps it will come to us naturally during battle._

Throughout all of our fights, I refused to switch personas. _If they felt inferior due to the fact that I didn’t have a shadow, then there is no way they would be okay with this. I know I will need to switch at some point, but I only want to do it in an emergency._

As we begin exploring the fifth floor, Teddie continues to give us assistance inside our heads. He keeps track of different weaknesses for each enemy we face as well as warn us about incoming shadows. _Though he may not fight, it is still useful to have him around._

About half away though the floor, a more anxious voice rings inside our heads. “Guys, I smell a huge shadow in that room.  Be careful!” We all glance around to see a door slightly larger than the others.

“What, you mean this one?” Chie asks.

“I would guess so,” I respond for him. “We should go in. For all we know, Yukiko could be in there.”

“Yeah, let’s go!” With a nod of agreement from the rest of the team, I swiftly open the door, gun at my side.

On the other side of the door, we are greeted with shadow Yukiko with what I can only assume is another shadow besides her. The other shadow is a humanoid dressed in full medieval armor riding a horse also dressed in medieval armor.

“Glad you could make it,” Yukiko’s shadow says with a chuckle.

“What the hell does that mean!?” Yosuke shouts.

“Where’s Yukiko!?” Chie demands with fury flooding her voice.

“’Where’s Yukiko’ you ask. She’s right here, of course.”

“No, I mean the real Yukiko! What have you done with her!?”

“No, sorry, but I won’t be answering any more of your questions. Now, you must fight this beast if you want to continue. My prince wouldn’t lose such a battle, would he?” With one last laugh, the princess shadow disappears leaving us with the large, armored knight.

“We have to beat you? Fine, anything to save Yukiko!” The Chariot Arcana card appears in front of her. “Persona!” She screams while kicking the card. Tomoe attacks with an ice spell. To her dismay, it has little effect.

“Here, let me take a shot,” Yosuke announces as he casts a light spell. This does almost nothing.

“Sukuna-Hikona!” I scream causing my persona to cast Zio. It has a similar effect to Chie’s attack.

Finally ready to attack, the knight charges Chie sending her flying at the wall behind her. “Chie!” Yosuke screams, running towards her.

“Yosuke, heal her!” Teddie orders.

“Right. Jiraiya!” He cast Dia on her, healing her to almost full health. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Yosuke helps her up while I try to think up a strategy. _So far we know that he is not weak to light, electricity, or ice. The fact that is not weak to light makes me doubt that he is weak to dark spells.  This leaves Wind and Fire._

“Yosuke-senpai, try Garu!” I order.

“Right.” He complies, receiving little payoff as this attack does little to nothing. _It must be fire then. This is a huge problem as none of us have any fire attacks. That is, my current Persona has no fire attacks._

While I am thinking to myself, the shadow runs at Yosuke this time. _No, I need to do something._ All hesitation vanished as I pull out my gun and summon a new Persona. “Ukobach!” Upon my call, this troll/devil persona casts Agi. To my relief, the enemy collapses to the ground. “Yes, fire works.” I make eye contact with my two comrades to find them both frozen.

“W-was that a different Persona?” Chie struggles to say. _This is about the reaction I expected, but we have no time for it._

“Yes, but please save questions for a later date. Our sole priority at the moment should be killing this shadow.”

They both snap out of it and bring themselves back into the fight. “Right, let’s kill this thing and find Yukiko.” Chie runs up and attacks the enemy with Yosuke close behind her. The shadow soon gets back up and forms a red forcefield around himself.

“Oh no!” Teddie cries. “Fire attacks won’t work anymore.”

“No if I can help it.” I cast Fires Break on him causing the shield to shatter. I follow my attack with Agi, once again knocking him down. “Now’s our chance.” On my command, we all charge the creature once more.

The remainder of the battle runs smoothly as we maintain the simple strategy. I continue to constantly knock the foe down with Agi while my friends help me maintain focus and power by boosting my attack and healing when necessary. The knight would mostly either use Skewer or Fire Wall but did sometimes try Mudo. This thankfully failed every time.

As I give my final attack, the enemy falls one last time and never raises again. “Hehehe, it seems you truly are my prince,” Shadow Yukiko’s voice rings in our ears before fading away.

“It seems she is keeping Yukiko-san elsewhere,” I commentate. “Right now, the most plausible course of action would be to-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, don’t try to change the subject,” Yosuke cuts me off. “Since when do you have more than one persona? You’ve only used the one until right now.”  _Right, it was wishful thinking to think they wouldn’t ask._

“I’m not entirely sure why I have such an ability, but it seems I can use multiple personas.”

“Yeah, we got that. What I’m asking is why you suddenly switched Personas now!”

“I have no real answer to that. It just happened when I realized our enemy might be weak to fire. I don’t have any real explanation for it,” I partially lie. _I should avoid informing them of anything related to the velvet room. They would have too many questions that I have no answers to._

“Well I think it’s cool,” Chie intrudes. “If you have a bunch of different Personas, you could become more powerful than any shadow in this place.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Yosuke sounds defeated.  “I was just surprised by it. Anyway, um…” He still sounds a little angry (maybe even jealous) but nevertheless he moves on. “What were you saying before I cut you off earlier?” he turns to me and askes.

“Oh, right, yes. I was only going to suggest that we rest until tomorrow. Though we won that battle with little difficulty, our Personas have weakened tremendously.”

“What!? But-” Chie interjects.

“At this rate, we will have no chance of saving Yukiko today. I believe that it is safe to assume we are more than halfway through this castle. If we leave and come back tomorrow, we will have a much greater chance of success.”

“But..! No, you’re right. I just don’t like Yukiko being trapped in here all alone.”

“None of us do, Chie,” Yosuke comforts her, “but we need to do this right. If we can’t save her, then who will?”

“I know, I know. But we need to save her tomorrow.”

“Right, of course,” I say. “We need to save Yukiko-san and any other victims there may be in the future quickly.” On that note, I take out one of the Goho-M’s and return us to the entrance.  Teddie, as expected, is there and leads us back the Shadow World entrance.

Seeing that is getting dark out, we all agree to go our separate ways. As I travel down the road, I feel a pair of eyes staring at me. I glance around but see nothing. Deming it my imagination, I carry on with my journey. Walking again, the feeling soon comes back and stronger than before. I look around once again to receive the exact same outcome as previously. _Perhaps this is just exhaustion. I should hurry home and rest._ I begin once more until the feeling of uneasiness returns along with the sound of footsteps. _No, this is real._

“Whoever is following me should seize doing so immediately,” I warn whomever may be my stalker. “I would like to inform said person that I am a member the police force and am allowed to carry a gun.”

“Alright, alright, no need to be so protective. I just want to talk,” a familiar voice says behind me. I turn to face the man to recognize him as Detective Adachi. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I was not scared. Now, what is your business with me?”

“Wow, all business, huh.” He chuckles. “Man, you’ve got to cool down. Geez, what is with kids today?”

“Listen, sir, with all due respect I have no interest in speaking to anyone tonight. If this is important then please tell me quickly. I will also excuse you for your attempts to follow me.”

“Okay, fine. It seems you don’t want to talk tonight, but I do have a deal I would like to make. Dojima told me that you really want to get on this case and I can help you with that.” He pulls out a piece of paper and hands it to me. It’s his phone number. “You can call me whenever you want more information on the case.”

“While I do appreciate the offer, I fail to see why you would do this. What is it that you have to gain?”

“Really, I’m just bored. We’ve been on this case for a while now and still don’t have any leads. So far it’s been nothing but paperwork.”

“So in other words, you plan to use me as a source of entertainment?”

“Yeah, but hey, what do you have to lose?” _He raises a good point. It would be helpful to know police inside information._

“Okay, we have a deal. For now, however, I would like to return to my home.”

“Okay, that’s fine. I’ll see you later then.” He walks away victoriously. _That was quite a strange meeting._

I make it back to the Dojima Residence without any further trouble. I am gratefully surprised to see Dojima actually home and not working. He sits that the table reading the newspaper. “Good evening, Dojima-san.”

“Oh, hey. You’re home late.”

“Oh, I was just with some friends. I apologize if I worried you.”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing like that.”

“Good.” On that note, I try to walk upstairs before he stops me.

“Could you tell me more about what exactly you were doing?”

“Oh, yes, of course.” _Where did this sudden interrogation come from?_ “I was at Junes.”

“Really, because I’ve heard that you’ve been over there quite a lot lately. No that there is anything wrong with that, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t suspicious.”

“Listen, I can assure you that I am not doing anything worthy of such interrogation.”

“I’m not accusing you of anything, I just-”

“Stop fighting!” a small voice shouts from behind my guardian.

“Nanako, we aren’t fighting. We’re just talking.”

“No, you’re talking loud and that means that you’re fighting and I want you to stop.” _Oh, Dojima-san and I must have been making her uncomfortable._

“I’m sorry, Nanako-chan,” I say as softly as possible.

“Dad, why are you always fighting? You never talk to me. You’re home now, but most of the time you’re at work and never play with me.” _Wow, I’m quite surprised she is saying this. I expected her to be more like me and keep this inside. Perhaps she’s stronger than I gave her credit for._

“Look, I’m sorry I can’t play right now but it’s late. I’ll play with you later.”

“When is later?” With that she storms away to her room.

We both sit in silence for a while until I finally say something. “I know it’s hard, but you should try to spend as much time as possible with her. She’s lonely.”

“YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW THAT!?” he screams, causing me to noticeably flinch. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.”

“No, it’s fine. I don’t blame you. I understand your side just as much as I understand her’s.”

“You’re right, I should play with her more. It’s just… since her mom-” He stops himself. “I don’t know what to do.”

“I understand.”

“No, you really don’t. Just… Just go your room or something. I- I just…”

“Are you sure you’re alright, Dojima-san?”

“Yeah, just…. Thank you.”  _For what?_ I almost ask. _I shouldn’t stay don he much longer. It seems he wishes to be alone. Despite his interrogation before, it seems that he truly cares about me._

To my great surprise, a voice enters my head.

_Thou art I… And I am thou…_

_Thou hast established a new bond…_

_It brings thee closer to the truth…_

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating_

_Personas of the Hierophant Arcana…_

_That was unexpected. I wouldn’t have thought this would be worthy of a social link._

Reluctantly, I return to my room and lay down on the futon. With one final thought, I fall into a deep slumber.

_Tomorrow, we WILL save Yukiko._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I have a couple of announcements  
> 1\. I will officially be doing Margaret’s social link as one that progresses throughout the story.  
> 2\. The next chapter will be the team saving Yukiko. The one after that will be Yosuke’s social link.  
> Yeah, this wasn't anything major, I just felt you should know about it. Sorry if the battles in this chapter (or any previous chapter) sucked. I am obviously not the best at writing that kind of stuff.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning is the same as any other. I wake up, change into the school uniform, and eat breakfast with Nanako. Despite last night’s events, she is still acting like her normal self. _This doesn’t mean she is okay, though. I of all people should know that._

At school, things haven’t changed much either. My teachers continue to be insane while my classmates constantly alternate between paying me no attention to giving me far too much of it. I would say it is distracting me from my studies, but I already know a majority of the information being thrown at me.

On this day particularly, I feel a stare sharper than usual. I turn around to see the biker-dressed man from before staring at me. As quickly as I made eye contact we lose it as he looks away blushing.  _What is he doing?_ I ignore him for the remainder of the day. _I have better things to worry about._

After school, I go straight to Junes to meet up with Chie and Yosuke. We have a quick conversation before jumping back into the TV world and going straight to the castle. We start off on floor five this time and continue exploring. 

It isn’t long before we hear voices echoing around the room.

“So what’s it like to be the manager of such a famous inn AND still be in high school?”

“H-Hey, Yukiko-san. Mind if I ask you something…? Is it true that announcer’s staying at your family’s inn?”

“What we should be talking about is how amazing you look in that kimono! It must get you a lot of attention from male visitors.”

_These are all things people have said to Yukiko about her role at the inn. It may have been taking a bigger toll on her than we imagined._

“I don’t know where those voices came from,” Teddie says, “but I think you’re close. Don’t stop now!”

“Thanks, Ted,” Yosuke responds. “C’mon, let’s go.”

After maybe an hour, we come across a large door on the eighth. “This is it, I smell her behind this door. Good luck.”

“Alright, let’s go!” Without any warning, Chie slams the door open to reveal both Yukiko and her shadow. Yukiko is wearing her Kimono from work while her shadow is still in her princess gown. “Yukiko!” Chie runs up to her friend.

“Oh, my princes are here! And three of them, my my!” the shadow says with a sinister smile. “Wow, this room is getting quite stuffy, isn’t it. Why don’t we go elsewhere? How about a land far away from here? You could do that, right, my prince?”

“Wait, did you say three princes? Are you counting me or Naoto-kun?” Chie asks.

“Of course it’s you, my prince. You have always been my prince. You protect me, comfort me, and lead my way. Or at least you did.” At the last sentence, her voice suddenly went from charming to cruel. “You just aren’t good enough anymore. You can’t save me, you’re just as stuck as I am!”

“What!? No, that’s-”

“Stop… Please.” The real Yukiko finally speaks. _She sounds weak. We need to get her out of here._

“Stop!? Why should I stop?” The shadow is growing more and more angry by the second. “I have every right to complain with all these things tying me down. All this ‘historical inn’ and ‘teenage manager’ stuff, I’m sick of it! I never asked for any of it! I want to make my own path, not have one made for me!”

“No, you’re wrong. I don’t think that.” Yukiko tries to fight it, but is far too emotionally exhausted.

“I don’t care where I go as long as it isn’t here. But I can’t leave here on my own, someone save me.” Her tone has now gone from cruel to mocking.

“Stop, that isn’t true…”

“All of my hope is gone. I can’t leave, I can’t stay, what am I even supposed to do? So I sit on my ass and hope a miracle happens! I don’t want to stay here; this whole town is just a bunch of bullshit!”

“How dare you say that!”

“No? But I’m not wrong. That is how I, I mean we, feel. Am I correct?”

“No, of course no!” _Oh no, she’s about to say it_.

“No, Yukiko, stop!” Yosuke tries to warn her.

“You’re not me!”

All hell breaks loose as Princess Yukiko laughs hysterically.  “YES! I can feel the power! It’s amazing! More! More!!!”

The chandelier above our heads comes crashing down, revealing a large bird cage. The shadow before us transforms into a huge, red bird and flies into the cage.  “I am a shadow, the true self!” Her voice has reached an all-time high demonic level.

“Let’s waste no time. Ukobach!” I summon my persona and use Sukunda on the bird-like foe. _That should weaken it._

“My turn. Persona!” Yosuke summons Jiraiya to use Garu. It has does little damage, but it is something.

“Alright, let me at ‘em.” Chie uses Skull Cracker. It is more effective than Yosuke’s method, but fails to knock the enemy down.

“Ha, is that all you’ve got?” Yukiko’s shadow uses Agi on me. Thankfully, my current persona is resistant to fire. _Fire…This gives me an idea._

“Chie-senpai, use an ice attack,” I order. _If she uses fire, it’s only logical that ice would be her weakness._

“Alright, take this!” She follows my command and cast Bufu. To my great relief, it works fantastically as the shadow falls to the ground. "Here's our chance! Let's go!" We all charge the shadow until she starts to rise once more.

“What, are you trying to make me mad?” She says. “I thought you were my prince!” The rampaging bird flies at Chie with her talons.

“Chie!” my male friend calls. “Persona!”  He uses the same wind attack as before to knock the shadow away. Instead of responding angrily, she gives the boy a passionate stare. _That’s a strange reaction. This cannot be good._

“Guard yourselves!” I order. They both comply. _Chie-senpai is weak to fire and is the most vital member of our team during this fight. I should grant her extra protection._

I do just that by casting Resist Fire on her. Just as I had suspected, Yukiko’s shadow uses an incredibly large fire attack by temporarily setting the floor on fire. 

“Oh, you’ll pay for that!” Chie once again uses Bufu, again knocking the enemy to the floor. Similarly to last time, we rage on the foe once more.

“We’re not done yet. Show me this strength of yours!” She says upon rising again. “Come, my prince!” To our great surprise, another shadow comes to her side. This one comes in the form of a stereotypical prince. Though much smaller than his ‘princess’, this sudden enemy could be very dangerous.

“Whoa, what!? It can just do that?” Yosuke says what we all were thinking. The newly come prince takes our shock as an opportunity to attack. Without much hesitation, he uses a spell on me I have yet to encounter.  The second it hits I feel much weaker. It must show as I hear both of my teammate call my name as well as Teddie faintly commanding I be healed. (Author’s note: the attack Charming Prince used is Life Drain if you couldn't tell. I wouldn’t blame you. I can’t figure out a good way of explaining it.)

Second later, it seems Yosuke has done just that as my senses come back to life. Before I can share my thanks with him, shadow Yukiko swiftly uses Agi on Chie causing her to collapse. Within seconds Yosuke is by her side helping her on her feet. “Up you go!”

Seeing as they just attacked two times in a row I see it as my turn. _If they are likely to be strong against fire, my current persona won’t do much good._ “Omoikane!”  I scream to summon my no-yet-seen persona. I target the prince and use Zio. Luckily, the attack works wonderfully as the prince falls to the ground. _This is our chance!_ “Chie-senpai, use Bufu, quickly!”

She complies, sending the larger enemy falling as well. Synchronized, we charge both enemies.  Once the enemies rise, the bird attempts to send another Agi at Chie before I pull her out of the way. At the same time, Yosuke uses Dekaja on both foes. Chie and I send our attacks at our respective enemy. They fall once more. We attack again.

Once regaining his strength, the prince runs away. “Wait, where are you going!?” the remaining shadow cries. “You’re supposed to take me with you!” She attempts to summon the prince again, but to no avail. “What!? No, come back!” _Though she is the enemy, this is still quite sad to watch._

Yosuke obviously disagrees as he sends yet another Dekaja her way. Chie follows through with Bufu. She falls and we attack once more. “Hm, looks like I had the wrong idea. You’re no princes… Die, you worthless commoners.”

On that note, she sets the floor ablaze once more. “Ah!” Chie screams as she collapses. As Yosuke rushes to heal her, I strive to finally end this battle.  “Forneus!” I summon my fourth persona and cast the final Bufu. She lets out no scream as her cage/chandelier crashes to the ground.

“Jeez, how many of those things do you have?” Yosuke asks.

“Ngh…” The real Yukiko brings us back to reality as she struggles to stand by one of the many pillars in the room.

“Yukiko!” Chie runs to her side. “Are you okay!?”

Without answering the question, the Kimono-clad girl glares back at her other self. “No… you’re not…”

“It’s okay, Yukiko,” Yosuke comforts her.  “We both had ones too, other sides of ourselves. We understand.”

“Exactly,” I add. “Think of this as just another side of you. You still have more of them, sides of yourself. We are willing to except this one as well as the others.”

To all of our surprise, tears start to fall down Chie’s face. “I’m sorry, Yukiko. I had no idea you were going through all of this. I should have known. I’m your friend, and yet I…” Yukiko softly mumbles her name before she continues. “I have always been jealous of you.  You are so beautiful, so nice, everyone loves you. I wanted you to need me, but I was the one who needed you. All I do is mess things up. I caused so much trouble before when you disappeared. When you aren’t with me, I have no idea what I should do.”

“Chie, please don’t say that. I wasn’t a very good friend either. I kept on trying to find whatever was the easiest way out.” She turns and steps towards her shadow. “You really weren’t wrong. What you said was true. At least, for a part of me. You are a part of me I can’t ignore anymore. You truly are me.”

At those words, the shadow changed similarly to the others. I flew into the sky and transformed into her persona. This one is yet another humanoid. It has a pink color tone has a long string of pink feathers connecting the hands from behind. It then disappears once more and becomes a tarot card, High Priestess to be exact. _Konohana Sakuya._

Body heavy from the stress of the event, Yukiko collapses on the floor. “Yukiko!” To little surprise, my meat-loving friend is at her side in seconds. “Are you hurt?”

“No, just tired. But… You all are here, you saved me.”

“Of course we did!”

“Thank you, all of you.”

“Don’t worry. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Precisely. You don’t owe us any thanks,” I add.

“So, who’s the one who threw you in here?” Teddie asks in our heads.

“W-What?” Yukiko sounds confused as she glances around to find another person.

“She can’t see you, you stupid bear,” Yosuke yells.

“Who are you talking about?” That gets a chuckle out of Chie.

“C’mon, let’s get you out of here and introduce you.”

Chie helps Yukiko walk while we exit the area. Thought Yosuke and I are ready to defend ourselves at any time, no shadows appear. _Perhaps they disappeared after we defeated the main shadow._ Exiting the castle, Teddie is quick to greet our new persona user.

“Hello, Yuki-chan, I’m Teddie. So, who threw you in?”

“Teddie, please, we can save that for another time,” I scowl.

“I’m sorry, but what exactly are you?” Yukiko asks.

“I’m just Teddie. Now how did you get in here?”

“Teddie!” We all yell, minus the one in question.

“I don’t know. I don’t remember anything. I’m sorry,” she answers.

“Please, there is no need to apologize,” I assure her. “Combining the physical and emotional stress of this event, I didn’t expect much of it to remain in your long term memory.”

“Anyways, let’s hurry out of here. Yukiko is exhausted.”

“Wait, you guys are just leaving my here!?” Teddie asks.

“Yes, you do live here, after all. We do not have much of a choice,” I respond.

“I know, but…”

“Aw, don’t worry. I’ll come visit you sometime,” Yukiko assures him. His cheeks grow red.

“My, my. Is it getting hot in here or is it just me. Come on, let’s go somewhere else.” _Is Teddie hitting on her? Would it count as bestiality if she complies with his flirt?_

“No, that’s creepy,” Yosuke intervenes. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.” With that, we go back to the entrance and climb back into the real world. Yukiko stays on her knees for a bit in front of the TV for a bit to regain energy. “Hey, you sure you’re alright?”

“Yes, I’m still just tired,” she responds.

“Alright, I’ll walk Yukiko home,” Chie volunteers. “Let’s go.” She takes her friend and half carries her out of the store.

“I should be going as well. Good day, Yosuke-senpai.” I exit the building and find myself walking past the Velvet Room. _Perhaps I should go inside and check on Marie. I am supposed to be more friendly._

I listen to my own instinct and enter the room. I am taken aback greatly to see only once resident inside, Margaret. “Oh, excuse me. Am I not welcome at this time?” I ask her. She looks up from her book.

“Oh, no, you are welcome at any time. However, your timing is quite unfortunate on this occasion. What business do you have here as of now? As you can see, my master is not here to perform his assistance, but I will help in any way I can. I must request that you do leave unless your errand is urgent…” She hesitates. “No, I cannot do such a thing. You must be here for a reason.”

“If I am to be honest, I came to visit Marie. If she is not here, then I have no problem leaving.”

“I should advise you do not do so. As I said before, everything that happens here happens for a reason. There must be some reason behind our meeting alone. I would advise that we talk until that meaning becomes clear.”

“Oh, um…” _This is the last way I would have imagined this event playing out. What am I supposed to say?_ “I should warn you, I am not the best at social interaction.”

“Do not worry, I am well aware of your social anxieties.” _Social anxieties? Is that what is wrong with me, social anxiety? I have never been diagnosed but I would not be surprised if I did have such a disorder. Still, I shouldn’t diagnose myself with anything. But wait, is her saying it the equivalent of me being diagnosed?_

“How much do you know about me?” I ask.

“As much as you allow me to know.” _That was about as vague as I have come to expect it to be._ “But this is a good - what is the term? - segway for you. You have the opportunity to ask me questions about myself now.” Is _she attempting to help me at social interaction now? This is officially the exact opposite of what I had original intended to do here._

“Okay, then, how did you become a resident here?” _I can use this as an opportunity to learn more about this place._

“I was invited her after my predecessor’s disappearance.”

“How did she disappear?”

“Oh, well that may have been the wrong word. She left her to attempt to help a blue haired boy. I do not know his name but he was also a wild card, a similar case to you.” _There was another wild card? Though it is selfish to believe I was the first, it is hard to imagine another persona user._

“Did you know the boy?”

“No, he was purely my sister and master’s responsibility.”

“Sister!?” _So she was her sister’s replacement._

“Ah, yes. She certainly was a naïve woman. She always wanted to go out and explore. As for me, I still consider myself quite new at the job despite it being three years in your time since my sister had left.” Looking at her eyes, they appear gentler and more welcome than before. _It seems she is opening up to me._ _Wait, does this mean…_ My half-asked question is answered by a voice.

_Thou art I… And I am thou…_

_Thou hast established a new bond…_

_It brings thee closer to the truth…_

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating_

_Personas of the Empress Arcana_

“Oh, it seems our meeting did have meaning,” Margaret says with interest steaming in her voice. “It seems I have joined the growing number of social links you have gained. This is truly an extraordinary occurrence. It warms my heart to know that I will be able to see your power grow. I witnessed your battle today. You are growing stronger.”

“Please remember that today’s battle was not only me, but also the others.”

“Exactly. Your power comes from them. Remember to grow and expand your bonds. They are more powerful than you believe. I wish you good luck on whatever the future brings.”

“Does that mean our meeting is over?’

“For now, yes, but I will see you again.”

“Understood.” I exit the room and continue my journey home. It is already dark out despite it being bright when I entered. _Time truly does work differently in there._

Entering the house, my day becomes even more entertaining when I see both Dojima’s sitting at the table eating dinner with detective Adachi. “Hello, Dojima-san, Nanako-chan,” I alert them of my presence.

“Oh, hello,” Dojima says before observing my confused glance. “This is my partner, Adachi. I invited him over for a bite to eat.”

“Speaking of which,” Adachi stands up. “I should get going. I wouldn’t want to intrude on any more family bonding. See ya!”

“Wait,” Dojima stops him, “you’re just gonna leave like that!”

“Yeah, I should have left a while ago, anyway.” _Wait, this could be a good chance to talk to him._

“Hold on, I can walk you out,” I race to his side.

“Oh, um, sure.”  I lead him outside of the house.

“Have you spoken to Yukiko-san yet?” I ask.

“Wow, cutting to the chase, are we?” I give him a harsh glare. “Alright, alright, fine. Jeez, for such a small girl you can be intimidating.” I give him another. “Anyway, yeah. We didn’t get much info, though. She said she didn’t remember anything. Some of the cops at the station think she’s lying.”

“Wait, they still suspect her?”

“Yeah, I think so. But I wouldn’t worry too much, it’s not like they have evidence.  Anyway, why are you asking about her? Do you think this is related to the murders?”

“It’s… a possibility,” I half-lie.

“Alright, I won’t push for a motive. Anyway, next time we talk we should make sure not to do it right in front of your house.”

“Yes, that would be a better idea.”

“Oh, and don’t go looking into this by yourself. It’s fine with me, but I don’t want my help getting you hurt. Dojima would kill me. Even though you just moved in, I think he still cares about you.” For the second time today, the voice from before enters my head.

_Thou art I… And I am thou…_

_Thou hast established a new bond…_

_It brings thee closer to the truth…_

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating_

_Personas of the Jester Arcana_

_Jester? Yet another I have never heard of._ “Alright, that was the only question I have for today. I’ll be sure to call at a later date.”

“Okay then. Bye.” With that, he walks away.

Reentering the house, I find Dojima staring at me confused. “What did you do that for?”

“I only wished to be polite.”

He looks as though he wishes to ask more questions, but decides against it. “Anyway, have you eaten yet? We still have food left over.”

“I’m not hungry, but thank you for the offer.” On that note, I run up to my room and go to sleep, happy that the battles will be over for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, Yukiko is finally done. I think I am getting better at writing battles but I’m not sure. Next time will be Yosuke’s social link. After that it will be Kou’s. I have been forgetting to mention it until now, but I have one more thing to say about social links. I will NOT be doing the fox’s. I have one reason and one reason only for this. Someone else is already doing a whole story about Naoto doing quests for the fox on Fanfiction.net. I don’t think there is any way for me to do the same thing and not have it be far too similar. Other than that, I will strive to find a way to get in every other social link. The only stories I still have no idea how it will work are  
> 1\. Death: Hisano Kuroda (Old Lady)  
> 2\. Temperance: Eri Minami (Daycare Person)  
> 3\. Devil: Sayoko Uehara (Nurse Lady)  
> Other than that, I’m fine with making all of the other ones. I also have figured out a way to do the Fortune (Naoto) social link. Anyone who figures out how I plan to do it gets bonus points.


	13. Chapter 13

Instead of my usual alarm, I am awoken today my phone going off. _Who would be contacting me now?_ I check my phone to learn that it is not a call, but a text message from Yosuke.

Yosuke Hanamura:

HEY steak skewers aftr sch. U in?

I’m taken aback not only by the horrid grammar but also the fact that he decided to message _ME_ of all people.  _Surly he must have other friends and yet he chooses me? Why would he do that? It’s probably because Chie is too busy looking after Yukiko-san until she gets better. Either way, it would be rude to decline if I have no reason to._

I stare at the phone for a whole five minutes having no idea what to write. _I’ve never had to text someone before. What am I supposed to do? He spoke in abbreviations, so I should do the same. How about…_

Text: Ok, I’ll see u aftr shc.

 _No, no, no, I can’t write ‘after school’ like that. It would be coping him and he would know how inexperience I am. He also used no punctuation and he wrote the word ‘hey’ in caps lock. Was that to show excitement? He would like it if I showed enthusiasm._ I quickly rewrite my message.

Text: OK SEE U AFTER SCHOOL

 _There, that should be sufficient._ I press the send button and begin my regular morning routine.

After school I leave the classroom to find Yosuke waiting for me. “Hey, ready to go?” He asks.

“Oh, hello, Yosuke-senpai. I was expecting to collect you from your classroom.”

“Yeah, well I figured you’re tired of doing that by now. Anyway, let’s go before a bunch of other kids show up.”

“That is a good idea.” We walk down the hall, out of the building, and onto the main street. Our walk is mostly quite before I gather up the courage to ask him a question. “Did you receive my text message?”

The boy fails to hide his chuckle as he answers the question. “Yeah, I got it.”

“Was there something wrong with it?” This question makes his laugh even more noticeable.

“No, it was fine.” _Why would he be laughing?_

“You’re lying to me. What did I do wrong? If my message was off in some way I would like to know.”

“Seriously, it’s fine. And anyway, we’re here.” He gestures to the food stand.” Here, I’ll order. Consider it my treat.”

“Wait, no, I can’t let you do that,” I stop him.

“What do you mean? You payed for me last time with that Marie Chick.”

“But-” _I can’t very well argue with that._ “Fine.” I sit down at the wooden picnic table while he orders. _What was wrong with my message? Did I not abbreviate it enough? Oh, I get it! I didn’t change ‘see’ to ‘C’. But is that really enough to warrant such laughter? No, there must be something more._

Cutting off my thoughts, Yosuke returns with our food. “Thank you. Are you certain you don’t wish for me to pay? As I said before, I have plenty of money.”

“Naoto, it’s fine,” he says while taking the seat across from mine. “So, how has King Moron been for you?”

“King Moron… Oh, you mean Mr. Morooka? He is certainly not my first choice of teacher, but I still stand by the belief that I could have worse.”

“Yeah, maybe a murderous psychopath could somehow top him. Still, he’s a close second. Have you talked to anyone else in your-” He is cut off by two housewives walking past us.

“Oh, look, it’s the Junes Kid,” an obnoxiously loud woman says to the other.

“Wow, I’m surprised they even let him eat here after what his father’s store has done.”

“I don’t know, they need any customers they can get nowadays.”

The two finally out of hearing range, Yosuke continues. “Sorry, I’m not exactly liked around here.”

“That was quite rude of them. They spoke so loudly I believe they may have wanted you to hear.”

“That wouldn’t surprise me. I just don’t understand what they want me to do about it. It’s not like I can just go up to my dad and just say ‘some people want us to close’ and then he’ll just be cool with that.”

“It doesn’t make much sense. Still, it must be tiring.”

“Nah, I got used to it a while ago. They mainly focus on my parents anyway. Still it feels like there isn’t a single person in this town who doesn’t know me. Not that that’s a bad thing, but I does get annoying needing to mind my manners all the time. Just one of the things that I miss about the city, I guess.”

“Ah, yes. I had almost forgotten you grew up there. I understand that it must be a big change.”

“Aren’t you going through the exact same change right now?”

“Yes, but I doubt we are on the same level. Though I lived in the city, I rarely went anywhere besides the estate and various locations while on jobs.”

“Estate? You’re family’s that rich?”

“Well, I would call us rich. It isn’t a very large piece of land. My home isn’t as large as what most people think when they hear the word estate.”

“Wow, it still must be nice to live in a huge house like that.”

“Believe me; it is not as nice as you may think. Though it does give me plenty of space, it gets extremely lonely whenever my grandpa is at work.”

“Oh, that must suck.” Before we can continue our conversation, his phone rings. “Oh no, it’s my dad. Hold on a minute.” He walks away to take his call. _He must be needed at Junes._

One minute later, he returns with a sour look on his face. “Sorry, I need to go. Duty calls.”

“There’s no need to apologize. I completely understand. Thank you again for the meal.”

“No problem. See ya tomorrow.” With that, he is off to his place of work. With nothing better to do, I return home to do schoolwork.

The next day I get a phone call from Yosuke while reading one of the many mystery books I took from my grandpa’s study “Hello, Yosuke-senpai. To what do I owe this call?”

“Hey, Naoto-kun. I just wanted to ask you for a huge favor.”

“Om, sure, I would be glad to help. What is the problem?” _How bad could it be?_

“Well, you see, there is a huge sale going on at Junes right now and a lot of the staff didn’t show up. My dad is freaking out saying that we need more people.”

“So you wish for me to work there for the day?”

“Pretty please! I already asked Chie but she said she was hanging out with Yukiko today.”

“Okay, I will be there in a few minutes.” I quickly put down my book and race over to the department story. Finally reaching the entrance, a teenage employee meets me out front.

“Are you Naoto Shirogane?” he asks.

“Yes, that would be me.”

“Great!” He hands me a Junes apron. “Put this on and go to the food section. Yosuke-kun will tell you what to do from there.” After giving me my instructions, the boy runs off in the other direction.

After putting on the apron, I go up the elevator to find my friend. I finally find him running around like a mad man trying to get things done. He lets out a sigh of relief when he sees me. “Naoto-kun, thank god you’re here. Restock that self, please.” He gestures to a self that looks as if a tornado recently ran through it before running away to handle something else. _Is Junes really this understaffed?_

After working nonstop for two hours, the sale is finally over. I make my way over to the food court, where Yosuke told me to meet him. A few minutes after my arrival, he runs over to be out of breath with an envelope in his hand. “Here, my dad told me to give it to you.” He hands over the envelope. I open it to find 5,500 yen. “That’s for helping out today.”

“Thank you, senpai.”

“What are you thanking me for? I should be thanking you. You are seriously a life saver. You know what, I’m gonna buy you something to eat. What do you want?”

“What? No, I will not allow you to pay for me two days in a row. It’s too much and I’ve done nothing to deserve such treatment.”

“What do you mean by that? You just helped me out.”

“Yes, the money was plenty to make up for that.”

“C’mon, just let me get something for you.”

“No, I’m not even hungry. Even if I was, as I said yesterday, I can very easily pay for myself.”

“Fine, you know what, I’m going to order something for myself and we can share it. Now sit down and relax.” Leaving me no room to argue, he walks off to order while I sit down. I note that this is similar to yesterday’s events. _I’m officially paying for him next time we meet._

He returns moments later with two drinks and a tray of food. “I figured you wouldn’t want to share a drink.”

“Thank you.” I take a sip of the drink. _Melon soda. Not the drink I expected from him._ Before any form of conversation can be made, a high pitched, snotty voice comes from behind us.

“Hanamura, there you are,” it said. I glance over to see two high school girls.

“Alright, what is it this time?” Yosuke says sounding half-dead.

“Will you tell your dad that we can’t work on weekends? He won’t stop bugging us about it,” the other girl rudely requests.

“Wait, didn’t you say you could work weekends when you were interviewed?”

“Yeah, but we didn’t have a choice. They wouldn’t have hired us if we told the truth.”

Yosuke looks like he is about to fight back but decides against it. “Alright, how about this? I may be able to make a deal where you only need to show up every other weekend. That good enough for you?”

“Fine, we’ll think about it,” the first girl says before leading the other away.

He lets out the world’s longest sigh before saying, “I’m sorry about that. I swear, they practically get payed to do nothing.”

“My guess is they are only still here because you are so understaffed.”

“Ha, you’re probably right. Still, I’m tired of everyone using me like that.”

“It must be exhausting.”

“Yeah, with this plus the murders, I barely have any time left for myself.” He glances over at the clock. “Oh crap, it’s already 7:00? I should go home.  See ya at school!” He runs off leaving the rest of his food behind. Secretly starving, I take a small bite of what’s left before throwing the rest away and return home.  

After school the next day, I am met once again by Yosuke. “Hey, I have another favor to ask. Don’t worry, this one will involve a lot less work.”

“Of course, what is it?”

“I’m not scheduled for work today but knowing my dad he may force me to when I get there. Could I hide out at your place for a bit? I really just need a break.”

“Are you asking me to hide you in my own house?” _Where did this come from? I’m not in any way prepared to host a guest._

“Yeah, but only for a bit. I know that I’ve been putting you on the spot a lot lately, but I-”

“I understand your predicament. I could allow you to travel home with me, but I must apologize in advance if I prove not to be a very entertaining host.”

“Awesome. Then we should probably get going.”

“Right you are, senpai. Let’s go.”

We travel down the road to my home. On the way, we run into a familiar figure. “Oh, hello, Nanako-chan,” I call out to my little housemate. Her eyes widen once they meet me.

“Oh, hello. I’m delivering a public notice,” she says in a cheerful voice I can’t help but smile at.

“Where are you taking it to?” I ask sounding as invested as possible.

“I’m going to Takeyoshi-kun’s house with my friends.” I glance over her to see two other young girls behind her. “Who are you?” she asks Yosuke, just now noticing him.

“Oh, I’m Yosuke Hanamura, a friend of your… um…”

“Right, how rude of me,” I interrupt. “This is Nanako Dojima, the daughter of my temporary guardian.”

“Right, got it. Hello, Nanako-chan.” A loud sound comes from his pocket. “Oh cr- I mean,” he corrects himself, “Sorry, give me a minute.” He walks away with a sour look on his face.

“C’mon, we need to hurry!” one of Nanako’s friends calls.

“Sorry, I need to go. Bye!” She runs with to her friends right when Yosuke returns.

“Sorry, but duty calls. Man, I can’t get a single break anymore.”

“They want you to work another shift?”

“No, they want me to deal with the two chicks you met yesterday.” He begins to turn and walk in the other direction.

“I could go with you,” I offer.

“Sure, if you want to. I could use a person to stop me from murdering them.”’ With that, we are off.

In front of the store, we see the two girls from the day previous to this one. “Alright, what do you want now?” my partner asks.

“We want more days off. We are tired of needing to work all the damn time.”

“Yeah, well guess what, that’s what a job is for. I can’t give you days off just because you asked. That’s hardly fair!”

“You would have done it for Saki.” That sentence made Yosuke go from angry to raging.

“WHAT DOES SHE HAVE TO DO WITH THIS!?”

“Oh come on, don’t try to hide it,” the other girl says. “You always treated her special. Now that she’s dead why don’t you move on and give us some special treatment!”

“Do not bring Saki into this!”

“Why not? And why did you like her so much anyway? It’s not like she ever liked you. She was just using you like the bitch she was.”

“Excuse me,” I cut in, “but I would advise you to refrain from speaking ill of the diseased. It’s quite rude.”

“Yeah, and who are you?”

“My name doesn’t matter. I’m merely giving you a harmless suggestion.”

“Hey, I recognize you,” the first girl says. “You’re that one transfer student.”

“Oh yeah,” the other agrees, “I heard about you. Wow, I still can’t believe the school would allow a crossdresser on campus.”

“C-crossdresser?” I ask surprised by the sudden terminology. “I can assure you that’s not what this is. And what exactly do my fashion choices have to do with our current topic?”

“What do you mean that isn’t crossdressing. I’d call you a drag queen, but that doesn’t really work here. How about drag prince?” The two of them laugh, causing Yosuke to become angrier than I’d ever seen him before.

“Stop it! You don’t have any right to talk about anyone like that! Not her, Senpai, or anyone else! JUST SHUT UP!” One could practically see smoke rising from his ears.

“Fine, what every.” The two girls walk away, still chuckling. With them gone, Yosuke begins to calm down.

“I’m sorry about that. You didn’t need to defend me or anything.”

“Yes, I believe I did. I wouldn’t stand by and let others talk about a human being like that. I did not know Konishi, but I’m sure she was not deserving of such comments.

“Thanks. Sorry you got roped into this. They shouldn’t have said those things about you.”

“Believe me, I have heard much worse.” _I should do something to take his mind off of this. That is what a friend would do._ “Now that we are done here, do you still with to go to my house. I’m certain Dojima-san would be okay with that.”

“Sure, that sounds cool. I’m kinda curious about what an ace detective’s room looks like.”

“Oh, well, it’s mainly books. There isn’t anything interesting about it.”

“Yeah, well I’m sure it’s better than my room. It’s basically just posters and dirty clothes.” He smiles as he walks past me in the direction of the Dojima residence.

Our conversation for the rest of the day is overrun by small talk. In the beginning ,most of the talking comes from my friend, but I talk more as the day goes on. We stay talking together until it gets dark out and he has to go.

The next day while walking home from school, I get a call from Yosuke. “Hey, have you seen the hill yet?” he asks suddenly.

“No, I don’t believe so. Why do you ask?”

“Meet me over there.” He hangs up the phone. _He is aware that I have no idea where that is, correct?_ Now at a loss of what to do next, I ask a few strangers where to go and they point me in the right direction. Finally reaching my destination, I spot the person of interest staring over the cliff onto the town.

I stand by him and look over the ledge. “This is a beautiful view.”

“Oh, hey. Sorry to call you out here all of the sudden. I have something I want to tell you.”

“That’s quite alright. What is it you wish to speak about?”

“I have a confession to make. I…um…” He struggles to find the right words. “I was jealous of you when you first got here.” _What? Why would he be jealous of me? What is there to be jealous of?_ “When I came to Inaba, there was nothing. All I could do was stare over this ledge at the city and pray something would happen.

“But then you come along and instantly the whole town becomes the most entertaining place in the world. I thought it wasn’t fair. Then to top it off, you get this amazing persona power. Sure, I have a persona too, but you have more than that. You are so much more powerful than any of us. Without you, we may have lost the last few battles. You are an amazing leader, and I was jealous of that.

“Of course, now I realize that that was wrong. So… I want you to hit me.”

“What!?”

“I want you to punch me right in the face. Knock all of that crap out of me.”

 _Has he gone mad!?_ “Yosuke-senpai, I refuse to hit you! You haven’t done anything that deserves such treatment!”

“I want us to be equal. We can’t be if I keep thinking crap like that.”

“That doesn’t make any logical sense. If you want us to be equal then you should punch me as well!”

“What!? No, I’m not going to hit you!”

“Then I refuse to hit you. That wouldn’t change anything about the situation. I have no need to, as you put it, ‘knock all that crap’ out of you. You just said you realize your beliefs were wrong. There is no need to punish ourselves over mistakes we have already learned from.”

“But, I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you up here. I’m being selfish again, aren’t I?”

“No, do not worry about that. I believe that people should be allowed to get their feelings out in whatever way works for them, but self-punishment is not a thing I wish to assist anyone with. However, I am willing to talk about it.”

“Ha, that is the girl thing to do, talk about their feelings.”

“Excuse me, but I firmly believe that men have the same need to speak their feelings as females. They only try to hide it because society tells them it’s a feminine act.”

“I-I guess you’re right. It was stupid to think you would actually hit me.  I… I think I want to talk.”

“Then do so. I am willing to listen.”

“I-I guess I’ve been a bit messes up since those girls were talking about Saki-senpai. She was so much better than them. She didn’t do things half-assed like them. She was so nice to me, even if it was all fake. She made me happy, but then she-” He hides it as best as he can, but I spot a few tears on his cheek. “Why…? She didn’t deserve that. To think she had to die in such a cruel way…”

“I-I…um…” _I have no idea what to say. I’m his friend and I have no idea what to say to him when he’s crying._   _What kind of friend am I if I can’t even comfort him?_

“You don’t need to say anything,” he says surprising me. “I’m fine. I…I just want to talk to her again. Just one more time would be enough. Even just seeing her again, her smiling, that would be enough. At first, I wanted to forget about her. I thought it would be easier. But… After my shadow, I decided I shouldn’t run from these things. She wouldn’t want to be forgotten, and I want her to be happy.”

“That’s good. One should never forget the dead. That would be the greatest insult you could give them.”

“Ha, that’s good. You should sell that quote to some sort of author somewhere.”

“I couldn’t do that. It’s what my grandpa told me a while ago. I wouldn’t want to steal from him.”

“Yeah, something tells me stealing from a detective isn’t a very good idea, even if it is just words.” A smile forms on his face. “You know, when I first moved her I hated this town. It was so quiet, so boring. But now, I realize now that that’s what makes it special. Sure there isn’t much to do, but that’s what brings people together. It’s nice.”

“That is very true. It makes me wish I grew up in a place like this.”

“I… I’ve always wanted to be special, to be hero. I got super excited when I got my persona. I figured it would be my chance to do something that would make me special to someone. But that isn’t what’s important. As long as I continue to want to be the hero of a story, I will be the same as everyone else. Everyone wants to be a hero. What I wish I had realized before is that I have always been special, since the moment I was born. I didn’t need this power; I just needed to be myself.”

_He has changed a lot since our first meeting. I can feel him growing, even now. I can feel our bond._

The two of us almost jump when the sudden image of Jiraiya appears in front of us in a spiral of gold light. “Whoa, what the…” His persona erupts in light as it transforms once again. It is now a lot more humanlike. It is mostly silver with red hands and has large, spiky red hair and a raiser circling around his neck. _His power has grown. Is this because of our bond? Did I help him reach this power? No, he did it himself. He found the strength to grow, I only watched him._

“Heheh,” he laughs as his evolved persona disappears from our vision. “This is my true power, huh. The power to protect this town, it’s just what I wanted.” He turns to look at me. “Let’s do it together, leader.”

“Please, I prefer the term partner. It is you who wanted us to be equal, correct?”

“Haha. Yeah, you’re right… partner.”

A voice overruns my thoughts.

_Thou art I… and I am thou…_

_Thou hast established a genuine bond…_

_These genuine bonds… shall be your_

_eyes to see the truth._

_We bestow upon thee the ability to_

_create Mada, the ultimate form_

_of the Magician Arcana…_

_Oh, so this is the true power of these bonds. A new persona, I will be sure to use it to protect this town alongside my new partner._

The two of us spend a long while looking over the city until it signs bright with lights, informing us that the night’s darkness is upon us. We part ways, promising to meet each other up there again at some point. I return home and fall asleep thinking of my new, first strong bond. _It seems more are to come._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I hope you liked my first social link. Next up is Kou.


	14. Chapter 14

The next day proves to be the most boring as of yet. With it being Sunday, there is no school, causing me to have nowhere to be in neither the morning nor afternoon. I spend a majority of the day in my room reading, only going down stairs to eat meals. While down stairs, I ask Nanako to turn on the weather channel. _According to the forecast, rain should be present Wednesday through Friday. The fog should come soon. This should not pose any problems, as we have already rescued Yukiko-san. Still, I should remember to watch the midnight channel._

Once school is finally over the next day, I decide to spend a good deal of time in the library with the hopes of studying. _Midterms are two weeks away. I refuse to finally return to school only receive anything less than the top score. Perhaps that would lessen the stares I receive in class far too often._

Time appears to have flown by as before I know it I realize I had been there for two whole hours. _This was a waste of time. I knew all of this information already, why did I feel the need to review it?_ I exit the library and make my way down the hall. As I pass the door leading to the field, I hear a lot of commotion. _Sports teams must have practice today._ I continue towards the main door, trying my best to block out the sounds, when a muscular hand grips my arm. I instinctually kick backwards at the man and wrestle out of his grip. Turning to face my attacker, I recognize him from my class. _This is the same man who threatened me to tell him more about the case, Sugimoto-kun. What could he want now?_

“HEY, WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?” he asks me, his body language suggest he is prepared to fight back at any moment.

“That was a simple move of self-defense. Now what is it you want from me?” _I have no time for imbeciles such as him._

“Oh no, you’re not getting out of it that easy.” Catching me off guard, he raises his fist and aims for my face. Instincts taking over, I grab the incoming arm and twist it back. He sinks to the ground in pain.

“I hope you realize now that I am not as easy of a target as I may-” I am cut of mid-sentence by a new hand grabbing me and shoving my back hard against the wall. I knee this new assailant in the stomach before examining his face. _Don’t recognize him. He must be from a different class._ Before I can even comment, a third individual appears and pushes the unexpecting me to the floor. He attempts to kick me but I grab his foot causing him to fall to the ground. I stand once more, but my victory doesn’t last long when the second man pulls both of my arms behind me while Sugimoto-kun kicks me in the stomach. I close my eyes, expecting another blow, when a voice is heard farther down the hall.

“Hey, get away from her!” The hands holding my arms are pulled away as I fall to my knees. _The hit to my stomach wasn’t to harmful, but the pain is still apparent_. I look up at my protector. Scanning him over, I see that he is a very tall man looking very angry. Behind him I see a blue-haired, shorter boy.

“Dude, we were just having fun,” one of my unrecognizable attackers defends himself. _Fun? What kind of human being would consider harming a person half their size fun?_ As my attacks were not very severe, all three of them are on their feet at this point.

“HEY,” Sugimoto looks down at me, “this isn’t over.” Done for the time being, the three walk away laughing at their work. My taller savior attempts to go after them, only to me stopped by the other.

“No, we shouldn’t do anything else. If things go too far, a teacher could see and you might be kicked off the soccer team. They aren’t worth it.” The blue-haired boy turns to me. “You alright?” he asks in a calm voice. He extends his arm to me.

Accepting his hand, I get back on my feet and answer his question. “Yes, their attacks were quite minor. Thank you.”

“No problem, we love to help a damsel in distress. Of course, you don’t exact fit that very well, do you? You fought back pretty hard for a person being attacked by three men twice your size.”

“Hey, what are you talking about?” the other guy questions. “I was the one who pulled the guy away. All you did was stand there!”

“Fine, whatever. Anyway, are you sure you’re alright, um…”

“Naoto Shirogane. And yes, I am certainly alright. The worst injury I could have possibly of received from their attack would be a few minor bruises.”

“Alright, good. I’m Kou Ichijo, a second year.”

“Daisuke Nagase. Nice to meet you.”

“The honor is all mine.” I respond before a familiar voice enters my head.

_Thou art I… And I am thou…_

_Thou hast established a new bond…_

_It brings thee closer to the truth…_

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating_

_Personas of the Strength Arcana_

_Hm, it seems this encounter alone has caused a bond to form. Interesting, I never expected to form one with people such as them._

“I suppose I should apologize for getting you both involved in this event.”

“What for?” Daisuke asks. “It’s not like you did anything to them.”

“Yes, I suppose you are correct. I still do not completely understand their motives. But that is beside the point. Thank you once again, but I should get going.” I turn to walk away until one of them stops me.

“Wait, where are you going?” Kou asks.

“I plan to go home. Why do you ask?”

“Well, if you’ve got nothing better to do, then why don’t you come with us to Aiya’s?”

“I wouldn’t want to be a bother to either of you. I’m perfectly fine just returning home.”

“What do you mean bother us? We’re inviting you,” Daisuke points out. _His logic is valid. I have no reason to deny their offer, but they may only be giving me the offer to begin with because they feel bad for me. I am not one to be pitied. Perhaps if I go with them I could prove that._

“Okay then, I suppose I’ll go with you, but I must ask you to lead the way. I recently transferred here so I am not aware of a majority of locations here.”

“You haven’t been to Aiya’s yet? Okay, now you have to go,” Kou orders.  “C’mon.” On his command, we make our way to what is apparently a Ramon shop. _Ah, I do have some memory of seeing this place on my first day in this town._ The entire walk there consisted of the other two talking to each other. I walk behind them, allowing them to speak among themselves.

Finally arriving, we sit ourselves down and order our food. When the owner askes for payment, I quickly pull out enough yen to pay for all of our meals. “Whoa, what was that for!?” Daisuke asks astonished.

“You help me, so I figure this is the least I could do.” _I’m also tired of people paying for me._

“Well, we could’ve at least payed a little bit. Both of our orders are almost double the size of yours,” Kou points out.

“It isn’t a bother.” _I need to talk about something else that interests them. I must seem like such a bore so far._ “I think it is a safe assumption that you are both in sports.”

“What?  Oh yeah, I’m on the soccer team,” Daisuke answers.

“I play on the basketball team, if you can even call it that,” Kou says sounding less enthusiastic than before.

“What makes you say that?” I ask.

“The whole team just slacks off the entire time. They’re probably only joined the team to pick up girls. Most of the players almost never show up to practice.”

“Oh, I see.” _Perhaps I should change the subject slightly._ “If I may ask, how is it you both met? You are on different teams, after all.”

“Oh, we go way back,” Daisuke responds.

“Yeah so far back I’m tired of seeing your face,” Kou mockingly adds. _Wait, what? What kind of person would say something like that about their friend?_

“Hey, the food’s here.” As the cook brings us our food, Daisuke’s grin remains on his face. _Is he not taken aback by that comment? Does Kou-kun speak in such a way often? Is this how close friends communicate?_

We remain in silence for quite a bit while we eat. A loud sound comes from Kou’s pockets when his is about halfway thought his Ramen bowl.  “Huh, what is it now!? Hold on, give me a minute.” The basketball player walks off to take the call.

“Man, it’s probably his parents,” Daisuke tells me. The two of us eat in silence, awaiting his return. He doesn’t make us wait long, as he is back within a few minutes.

“Sorry, man, duty calls. My parents want me back for another one of those stupid ‘high society’ things. You two can split what I have left if you want.” _Is he referring to a high society gathering? Why would he be at one of those? He doesn’t appear to be from a rich, high power family. Then again, I shouldn’t judge based on appearance alone. I did just meet this man, after all._

“Alright, see ya later. Hope they don’t push you too hard.”

“Believe me, they will. See ya. You too, Naoto.” He runs out the door, leaving us alone.

“I don’t mean to pry, but what was he saying about ‘high society’?” I ask, genuinely curious.

“What? Oh right, you don’t know. His family is - how should I put this? – very traditional,” he explains. “His dad, the only male successor, couldn’t have children, so he adopted Kou from an orphanage.” _Oh, he’s adopted._ “The rest of the story I don’t really get. Kou could explain it better. Pretty much, his dad did end up having a daughter. Now they want her to take over at some point, but they still treat him like family and stuff. I don’t know much more than that. Kou doesn’t really like to talk about it. I do know that they are against him playing basketball; they think it’s too ‘barbaric’.”

“In a way, I can see that. Even so, I wouldn’t think it’s worthy of such a bad name. Violent, maybe, but not barbaric. That would be taking it too far in my opinion.”

“Yeah, he’s had to give up lots of ‘barbaric’ things growing up, but he isn’t giving up basketball, not if I can help it.”

“I agree with that. Even if they are against it, there is nothing particularly wrong with the sport. He should be allowed to play. I promise to help in any way I can as well.”

His eyes light up. “Oh, that would be awesome. He isn’t used to defying his parents like this, so he could use all the help he can get. Thanks, man… or woman, sorry.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that.  I’m fine.” I glance out the window to see a setting sun. “I should get going soon.”

“Oh yeah, me too.”

“I suppose I will be seeing you later. Thank you again for before.”

“What? Oh yeah, no problem. Those guys are jerks. This isn’t the first time they’ve ganged up on someone like that, either. Do you know why they attacked you?”

“No, I have no idea. One of them grabbed my arm and got angry when I fought back. I suppose I just didn’t give them enough time to explain themselves.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll see you later, Naoto.” With that, he runs off.

The very next day after school, I walk past the gym to check on Kou. _If I am to keep my promise to help, I should talk to him as soon as possible._ When I get there, all of the team members are gathered around the coach and a snotty-looking girl except for one, Kou.

In an attempt to be polite, I wait by the door until he is finished talking. “This is Ai Ebihara. She will be the team manager from now on. She can take it from here.” _Weird, this girl doesn’t look like one who would be interested sports._

Done with his brief speech, he walks towards the doors and subsequently me.  “What do you want?” he asks in a harsh tone.

“Oh, I only wished to check on my friend, Kou Ichijo.”

“Well, he isn’t here, so scram. I don’t need nerds like you infesting my gym.” He pushes past me with a grunt. I stand there frozen for a second before going out to search for him. _Perhaps he is still on campus._

After checking every floor, I finally fine him lying on the school roof. I clear my throat in order to grab his attention. Jumping slightly, he glances up at me before sitting up. “Oh, hey Naoto,” he greets me, his voice devoid of all emotion. _Daisuke’s hypothesis was correct; his parents must have been giving him a hard time._

“Are you alright, Kou-kun? I know we have only just met, but it doesn’t seem like you to miss practice.”

“Oh, is it over already?” _He must be really out of it. Should I seek him some other form of help?_

“Yes, I believe so. Apparently your team has a new manager. If memory serves me well, her name is Ai Ebihara.”

“Thanks, you didn’t have to check on me.” _His voice has a completely different tone than yesterday. This behavior is rather suspicious._

“I have reason to believe that I do in fact have reason. Daisuke has informed me of your family’s culture as well as the fact that they are against you playing basketball.” The boy mumbles something inaudible to himself. “I am on your side, you know. I think it is wrong that you’re parents are trying to stop you from playing. There is nothing truly wrong with the sport.”

“No, it’s not really my parents. It’s mainly my grandma. And anyway, I’m not sure I should be doing this either.” _What? No! This is exactly what I’m supposed to make sure doesn’t happen._

“What makes you say that? As I said, your grandmother’s reasoning for keeping you away makes no sense. The benefits of playing a sport far outweigh the negatives.”

“No, it’s not just that.” He climbs to his feet and leans against the fence surrounding the edges. “There isn’t any point to playing anymore. We never play any games, we never do drills, and we never do anything except take shots. I’m tired of doing nothing.”

“I believe psychologist would call that an existential crisis,” I point out.

“A what?”

“An existential crisis. It is where a person begins to question the meaning of life that it leads them into a depressed state.”

“And you think that’s what this is?”

“I believe so. Don’t worry, I know of a few places you could go to get help.”

Somehow, my suggestion receives a chuckle. “Thanks, but I think I’ll have to turn that offer down.” Behind us, I hear the roof door swing open.

“Hey, dude, you up here?” a familiar voice calls out.

“Oh, hey Daisuke,” Kou greets him.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for ya. The coach said you weren’t at practice. Everything alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He kicks himself off the fence. “I’m going home. See you later.” He walks to the door and off the roof. Daisuke tries to go after him but I stop him.

“He may need time in order to work himself out.”

The soccer player sighs before asking, “What did he say to you?”

“He… He said that he doesn’t truly see the point to playing basketball anymore.”

“What!? He can’t be giving it up just because of his family!”

“No, he said that that wasn’t the only problem. I believe he may be becoming depressed due to the fact that the team never actually competes, causing him to no longer wish to play the sport at all.”

“So he’s upset because they aren’t playing any real games? Then why don’t we just set up a real game for him?” he suggests.

“Though that may very well fix the problem, can’t imagine that would be an easy feat. Not only would we need another team’s agreement, but we also need the other players on this schools team to agree.”

“I’ll think of something. You just make sure Kou goes to practice tomorrow.” With that, he runs off. _How does he plan to manage this?_

The first thing I do the next day after school is find Kou’s classroom. Knowing him to be a second year, I run up to the second floor and wait by the stairs. While up there, I notice rain outside the window. _Oh yes, I had forgotten about the weather forecast._  

After a few minutes of waiting, I finally spot him. “Oh, what are you doing up here?” he asks.

“I came to assure you go to practice today.”

“Seriously?” A confused expression appears on his face. “Well, I was planning to go today anyway. I can’t skip all the time.”

“Great, shall we go together?” _I am quite intrigued by the given situation. Exactly what is Daisuke-kun planning?_

“Sure, you can come. I don’t mind.” He walks past me down the stairs. I quickly follow behind.

Upon reaching the gym, it is apparent that Daisuke followed through with his commitment. He had managed to not only find another team, but get more members for ours as well. “Dude, what is this?” Kou asks astonished.

“It’s a game, get ready,” his friend responds.

“A game? Really!? How?”

“I wouldn’t question it,” I advise him.

“Yeah, now go get changed,” Daisuke orders.

“Okay…. I do that…” He tentatively walks away from us to the locker rooms.

With him gone, I consider it my chance to question this event’s mastermind. “How exactly did you achieve this?”

“Easy, I know some people on the other team and threatened some other students to play for us with dirt I’ve go on them. I still couldn’t find enough people, so I’m playing too. I don’t know the rules, but it can’t be too hard.”

“Wow, that’s quite impressive.” _It would do me well to remember to not do anything particularly embarrassing around him._

Once Kou emerges from the locker room, the game begins. With me being the only spectator, I silently watch with my back to on the wall. Though I know nothing of the rules, it doesn’t take an expert to understand how badly our team is doing. With Daisuke not knowing the rules and the remaining team members not trying, Kou is the team’s only saving grace. Even though his team is losing, I can tell that he is a better player than anyone else on the other team.

Once that disaster of a game is over, the entire court clears out except Kou, Daisuke, and I. “So, it looks like we lost,” Kou redundantly points out. “But still, I feel better now. Thanks, guys.”

“No problem, man,” Daisuke assures his friend.

“I don’t know how to say it, but this has made me feel a lot less… alone right now. Lately, I’ve just been feeling bad for my parents. They adopted me so I could take over the family someday, but now they have Sachiko for that.” _Who is Sachiko? Oh, that must be the sister Daisuke mentioned before._ “Now I have no purpose for them. It’s not like they could just bring me back to the orphanage, so they have no choice but to keep me around. Do they even want me anymore? Should I just leave?”

“Hell no!” the soccer player cuts him off. “What’s making you think that!? What, did they say something to you?”

“No, they’re just as nice as always. This is just me.”

“Do you think that just because they aren’t your biological parents they can’t be your family?” I ask rhetorically. “I can assure you that is not the case. I’m certain they love you just the same.”

“No, that isn’t true, not in this family.” He slumps over against the wall. “If that was true, then why would suddenly change their mind about basketball.” The two of us look at him dumfounded. “They gave me the okay to play a few days ago. They also said I don’t need lessons, or to go to any more gatherings. Why would they change their minds? It’s because they don’t need me anymore.”

Daisuke and I sit there in silence for the longest time, not knowing what to say. Finally, I figure something out. “Kou-kun, I have a suggestion.” He looks at me with eyes full of curiosity. “Why don’t you visit the orphanage you came from?”

He gives me a confused glare. “What would that change?”

“It is as you said; the problem is with you, not your parents. I don’t mean that you have done anything wrong, but that you are simply judging the situation too harshly. You’re main concern is whether or not you belong with this family, so perhaps learning more of your biological parents will help you understand exactly where you do belong.”

Kou sits quietly, pondering the idea, until he finally speaks. “Okay, let’s go.” Without warning, he pushes himself off the door and towards the exit.

“Wait, what? Now!?” Daisuke askes astonished. Without even looking back, Kou continues on his way.

“We should go with him,” I suggest

“Yeah, let’s go.” We follow him the entire way to the orphanage. He goes inside without us, leaving me and Daisuke stuck outside in the pouring rain. We find shelter and wait in silence for him to come out. 

A good 30 minutes later, he finally does looking as calm as ever. “So, how did it go?” I ask.

To my great surprise, he laughs. “I still can’t believe you both came out here to make sure I’m alright. Losers.” Contrary to his words, he face reveals his true appreciation. “Man, I can’t believe some of the people here still remember me. It’s been so long, but nothing’s really changed. They were all super nice.” His carefree smile slowly disappears. “They told me they weren’t allowed to tell me anything about by parents.” He pulls a letter out of his pocket. “They did give me this. I haven’t read it yet but…”

“You should,” I cut in.

“I know, I’m gonna.” He sits down on the steps, opens the envelope, and pulls out a white piece of paper. _How strange, the letter seems to be in perfect condition. They must have taken really good care of it. Even so, how is it that it still looks new? No, I shouldn’t try to analyze it. Still, it’s odd._

With a deep breath, he begins reading. “ _Dear Kou-kun… By the time you read this, you’ll have grown into a fine young man. Your parents named you Kou because they hoped that you would always be in good health. They considered health more important than fame or money, because it’s much harder to keep and maintain. You see, your parents passed away about half a year after you were given up of adoption. They always wanted you to know how sorry they were that they couldn’t raise you themselves. They loved you dearly. Kou, you are your parent’s ray of hope. No matter how difficult things get, hold your head high, and keep pressing onward. You can’t lose hope. They will both undoubtedly be watching over you forever._ ”

We all remain silent for a long time. None of us have the right words. _What do you say to a person who just found out their parents are dead? What could one possibly say? Come on, I should know what to say. I’ve been through this myself. Then again, I don’t remember much of that day. Who was it that spoke to me? I don’t even remember that detail. All I remember was feeling lost. It that how he feels right now?_

“I haven’t learned anything…” Kou mumbles, cutting off my thoughts. “I have no idea who they are just that they’re dead. I was kinda expecting something like this, but still… I guess I really am alone.”

“That’s not true,” I interrupt. “You still have Daisuke-kun and I, as well as your family back home.”

His smile grows back slightly. “You think so? I don’t know… Still, I’m glad I at least know something now. Thanks you guys, really.”

“We should go, it’s getting dark,” Daisuke points out.

“Yeah, let’s go.” On that note, we all depart and go to our separate homes. By the time I make it back, the rain has finally stopped. _It looks like I wouldn’t be able to watch the midnight channel tonight._

The next day, I wake up to pounding rain on my window. _Great, more rain._ I check my phone to see the time, but instead see a text message notification.

080-7824-2569:

Hey, it’s Kou. Meet me on the roof after school.

_Kou-kun? How did he get my phone number? Nevertheless, I should go. He may wish to speak more of the letter._

After school, I pack up in record speed to meet him. Once at the top, releaved the rain has stopped, I find him waiting along with Daisuke. “I’m sorry for the wait,” I alert then of my arrival.

“Oh, no worries. We just got here,” the blue haired boy assures me before taking a huge breath. “Last night, I did it; I asked my parents whether or not me anymore. They all started freaking out. My mom started crying, screaming things like ‘of course we do, stupid!’ She’s right, I have been stupid lately. I just assumed they stopped loving me.

“You know, it’s the people around you who make you who you are.  Though they may not have given birth to me, they are my real parents.” He pulls the letter out of his pocket. “Still, knowing that my biological parents are dead, I feel empty.”

“Hey, maybe we could visit their graves sometime,” Daisuke suggests.

“No, I don’t even know their names, let alone where to find ‘em.”

“Yeah, I guess. Whoever wrote that letter, it must have been, like, ten years ago, right? I doubt they’d remember much.”

“Ten years ago…” he mumbles while looking down at the letter closer. “The ink on the front, it’s smeared. I just noticed.” _He’s correct. It looks almost as if were written hurriedly. Why would the writer be in such a hurry? Unless… No, I need to stop analyzing it, for Kou-kun’s sake._ Kou runs his finger over the edge of the paper. “The corners are sharp. They could give you a papercut. What does this mean?” _It seems he is on the same mental track as I am. He most likely has reached the same conclusion._

“This letter was written recently,” I say what we were both thinking.

“Wh-What does that mean?” Daisuke asks himself.

“The head of the orphanage… she must have written it for me.”

“H-Hey, it’s alright, man. Cheer up. Even if it is fake- No no, that’s bad: I shouldn’t call it a fake, but…!”

“No, you’ve got the wrong idea, I’m happy.” He lets out a small laugh. “She knew I was depressed and tried to help. Whether the letter is true or not doesn’t matter. Someone gave birth to me, another raised me, and now I know someone else is looking out for me like this. I thought I had no ties at all, but know I realize just how wrong that is.”

“Ha, took you long enough, stupid,” Daisuke jokes.

“Hey, what’s with everyone calling me stupid lately?”

“It’s because you are stupid, stupid.”

“Stupid? I know you are, but what am I?” _They’re being rude to each other again. I still can’t gather if this is a regular event among friends or if it is just them.  Even so, they seem to be having fun._

“Still, I guess I am really stupid. All this time, I’ve been so focused on trying to find who I really am: where I truly belong. In the end, I never needed to look. I belong here, with the people who shaped my life and raised me to be who I am right now. Without you two, I might’ve never figured it out. Thank you.”

“Dude, you can be WAY too mushy sometimes,” Daisuke says.

“Seriously, man, you’re ruining the moment.” Giving it one last glance, he hands the letter over to us. “Here, I want you two to hold on to it for a while.”

“Wha- No, I couldn’t possibly take that from you!” I attempt to stop him.

“No, take it. It will make me feel better.” With his words in mind, I tentatively accept his gift. “Just know that I’ll want it back someday, when I feel I can stand on my two feet again. You better stick around until then.”

“I’ll try my best to do so.”

A new voice enters my head.

_Thou art I… and I am thou…_

_Thou hast established a genuine bond…_

_These genuine bonds… shall be your_

_eyes to see the truth._

_We bestow upon thee the ability to_

_create Zaou-Gongen, the ultimate form_

_of the Strength Arcana…_

_It seems I have maxed out a new bond. I suppose this means that these two are truly strong friends with me._

The three of us sit on the roof for hours, simply talking among ourselves, until the sky is overcome by night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry this chapter took so long. My laptop go a virus, so I couldn't write at all for a bit. That still isn't fully resolved, but I have access to a different laptop now. This chapter also took a while because it as really hard for me to write. I don't know Kou or Daisuke as well as other characters, so it was hard to write for them. In the end, I hope I did at least an okay job. It doesn't help that this is my longest chapter yet. We'll be back to the main story next chapter. It may still take a while to get written due to this not being my laptop, but the gap will hopefully be shorter than this one.


	15. Chapter 15

The entire next day is drowned out by fearsome rainfall throughout the town. _I guess I should be thankful today is Showa day so I have no need to leave the house. It seems Sunday’s events are likely to repeat themselves._

And that they do. I spend the entire day reading, taking the occasional break to go downstairs and eat. Coming down in the evening for some water, I am pleasantly surprised to find Dojima sitting atop the couch watching the news. “Due to recent rainfall in the area, we are likely to receive thick fog starting tonight and then subsiding the following morning,” the weather woman reports.

“More fog, huh,” Dojima comments.  “Let’s hope this doesn’t cause any more trouble.” Without warning, Nanako, sitting on the right side of the table, grabs the remote and changes the channel. “Hey, what did I tell you about changing the channel like that?”

The screen displays yet another Junes commercial. “Come to your local Junes for amazing prices and products, even during Golden Week,” the far too bubbly voice says before singing the jingle, “Every day’s great at your Junes!” with Nanako singing along.

“Dad, they’re open during golden Week!” the little girl repeats cheerfully.

“Yeah, I heard. Speaking of Golden Week, do you think you might want to go somewhere?”

Her eyes shoot open. “We can go somewhere!?”

“How about you? You got any plans?” He asks turning to me.

“Wait, me?” I question. “No, I couldn’t possibly intrude on such an event. If you were to leave, I would have no trouble-”

“No, you don’t need to worry about that. It’s like I said before, as long as you’re here, you’re family. I’m not trying to force you to go, but I think Nanako would like that.”

“Yeah, we should go on a trip together!” she agrees. _It would seem I have no choice in the matter. Oh well, it’s not as if I have any other plans._

“Okay, I have no reason to decline. I would be glad to go.”

“Great.” Dojima stands up and looks at his daughter. “Alright, it’s time for bed.”

“Uh, okay.” She unhappily stand to her feet and goes to her room. Dojima does the same. After making my way to the fridge and getting water, I go upstairs and wait for midnight. _It’s still raining, so the Midnight Channel should turn on. I can only hope no one will appear. At the very least, no more deceased should reveal themselves in the morning._

Once midnight finally arrives, I learn that my hopes are proven true. Though the television does turn on, no silhouette is present. _Yes, it seems we have outwitted the culprit this time. As long as we continue to do so, there should be no more victims until the case is solved. I only wish we could have gained anymore knowledge on whoever may be the killer._ Tired from the long, uneventful day, I climb into the futon an fall into a deep slumber.

The next day outside the school building, I am surprisingly greeted by a red-sweatered girl. “Oh, hello, Yukiko-senpai. I see your health as improved.”

“Y-yes, I feel a lot better now. I’m back at school again, so… um…” She struggles to find her next words. “I’m sorry about before. You all went through so much trouble to save me…”

“Believe me, there is no need for one to apologize for being kidnapped. None of us blame you; I can assure you of that.”

“Yeah, I guess ‘sorry’ isn’t the best word. A ‘thank you’ would be much more appropriate. So thank you.”

“It was not a problem. I’m truly just glad you’re safe.”

“Ha, believe me, so am I. It’s good to be back.  For some reason, things seem to be going a lot smoother at the inn lately. I might have just been trying too hard. Still, I am embarrassed by the incident.  You guys saw everything…”

“You have nothing to fear in that regard. Everyone has some sort of internal struggle such as that, even if said person is unware of it.”

“Well, that is certainly true…”

“Yukiko!” A cheerful voice calls from further down the road.

“Oh, hello, Chie,” Yukiko greets her. After waving, she looks back at me. “I should go talk to her. We can talk later.” She races off to her friend. _She seems somewhat happier now that she has returned. I’m glad._

After school, I meet the others at their classroom and we proceed to the roof. After making sure the area is vacant, we begin our discussion about Yukiko’s kidnapping. “Yukiko, I hate having to ask again, but have you remembered anything else?” Yosuke asks.

“No… If anything I remember less than before. I… I think someone rang the doorbell and called for me. I don’t remember anything after that. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” Chie assures her. “But does that mean the culprit just walked up and rang the doorbell? That sounds strange to me.”

“Yeah, he would need to have lots of balls to pull that off,” Yosuke agrees.

“I still don’t entirely understand,” Yukiko says. “I can’t think of a single person who would hate me enough to want to kill me.”

“That would me my main question at the moment,” I continue her train of thought. “Based on the three victims as of yet, a motive is hard to uncover. The victims all have seemingly no connection to one another. Though one could say that Yamano and Konishi are connected because she found her body, that hardly leads to a motive if she already informed the police. If we look at things they have in common, two things come to mind: they all are females and live in Inaba. Even so, there is no reason that would convince one to commit murder.”

We all sit in silence until a lightbulb appears above Yosuke’s head. “What if we think about it this way; both of the second two victims had connection to the first one. Like you said, Saki-senpai found her body and she stayed at Yukiko’s inn.”

“Wait.” Yukiko tries to put the puzzle pieces together in her head. “So the killer is targeting females in Inaba connected to Ms. Yamano?”

“That is an adequate theory for now. We can’t regard it as fact until we gather more concrete evidence; that evidence being another disappearance. If the next victim also falls under those same criteria, then the theory will become a lot stronger.”

“Wow, you’re really good at this,” Chie comments. “That does make sense, you being a detective and all.”

“Well, no matter what the motive may be,” Yukiko begins, “I still want to join you guys. If someone wants to kill me, I want to be a part of taking them down.”

I glance over the others. “Are there any objections?” My question is met with an overwhelming no.  Once they are done giving their reply, the roof door swings open and lots of students flood through. “Oh, we shouldn’t speak of these things in front of others. Perhaps we should relocate ourselves in the other world. This way Teddie can properly join in on our conversation and no one could possibly walk in on us.”

“Yeah, that’s a good call. Let’s go.” On Yosuke’s command, we exit the school and make our way to the department store.

While on our way, Chie asks me “Do you think the killer could have killed Saki-senpai because she knew something about the body others wouldn’t?”

“Hmm… Well, while that would be a plausible explanation, I highly doubt that could be the case. I see no reason for her to hide any information from the police, so they would have known prior to her death. We must also take into consideration that the killer has left no evidence behind that the police could find. It’s highly unlikely an average high school student could find anything.”

“Yeah, that’s true…” In the corner of my eye, I see Adachi walking on the other side of the road. For a brief moment, we make eye contact before he runs over to us.

“Oh, hey, this is perfect timing,” he says. “Dojima-san wanted me to tell you that he should get off work on time today. Could you tell Nanako-chan?”

“Hello, Adachi-san. Of course, I will pass the news onto her.”

“Great.” He turns to walk away before Yosuke stops him.

“Hey, you’re that detective guy from earlier, right?” He asks.

“What? Oh yeah, you’re the kid with the swords at Junes. Don’t worry, I still haven’t told anyone about that.”

“Wait, sorry to butt in,” Chie interrupts, “but is there any way the killer could’ve targeted Saki-senpai to silence her?”

“What!? Oh, umm.” The detective laughs awkwardly. “Y-you sure like getting straight to the point… Anyway, we’ve been thinking that too. She could have seen something the rest of us haven’t and not told us. Oh, and you better not tell anyone I’m telling you this stuff. You really shouldn’t be thinking about this stuff anyway.  Just relax, the police are on the job!” With an obviously fake smile, he turns away for a second time, this time succeeding.

“Yep, we can’t rely on them for anything,” Yosuke says once he is out of earshot. We continue to Junes in silence.

Entering the other world, we are met by a very egger Teddie. “Oh, you’re back!  And Yuki-chan’s with you! You really did come back like you said.”

“Yes, of course I did. I’m part of the team now.”

“Oh, yay! I thought this might happen, so I made these for you.” He takes out a pair of red glasses and hand them to Yukiko. She puts them on without hesitation.

“Oh, that’s why you were all wearing these. Cool. Thank you, Teddie.”

“Teddie, for the sake of curiosity, why is it you do not need to where these glasses?” I ask.

“Oh, good question, Nao-chan!” _Why must he insist on calling me that?_ “That would be because my eyes themselves are lenses. Cool, right?”

“No, not really,” the annoyed Yosuke replies.

“What!? How could you not be intrigued by a cute, complex bear such as myself?!”

“Cause you’re annoying, that’s why.”

“Hey, how rude! All I did was answer Nao-chan’s question!”

“We didn’t come here to-”

“Both of you, please,” I cut him off. “This meaningless fighting helps on one. May we please move on to more important matters?”

“Yeah,” Chie agrees. “Teddie, has anything weird happen over here?”

“No, not really. The shadows went crazy before, but that’s only because the fog went away.”

“Speaking of which, we have yet to speak of the Midnight Channel last night,” I change the topic.

“Right, Chie told me about that,” Yukiko adds. “I watched it last night and the screen went all staticy, but no one appeared.”

“Does that mean the killer hasn’t picked a new target yet?” Chie asks.

“We still can’t say for certain until we fully understand what the Midnight Channel is,” I explain. “For all we know, the killer could be picking victims from the program, not the other way around.”

“Yeah, that’s true…”

“Teddie, do you know anything else about the Midnight Channel?” Yosuke asks. “If you do, you better tell us.”

“What? I already told you, I don’t know anything about this ‘program’ thing. I only know about it from you guys.”

We all sit quietly for a minute before the red-clad one of us speaks. “Do any of you know what time it is? I need to be home soon in so I can help out at the Inn.” I pull out my phone to check the time only to find nothing but static.

“Right, our phones don’t function in this world,” I mumble in defeat. “Well, if you have somewhere to be, then perhaps we should leave for the time being. Adachi-san did ask me to tell Nanako-chan Dojima-san will be home on time.”

“Yeah, we should go,” my partner agrees. After saying our goodbyes to Teddie and promising to come back soon, we exit the television.

“Hey, I just realized something,” Yosuke says upon our exit. “We should all get each other’s numbers, that way we can all call each other after we watch the Midnight channel.”

“That would certainly be beneficial,” I agree. “I am already in possession of Yosuke-senpai’s phone number, but I am still in need of the both of yours.”

“Right, and I still need Yukiko’s,” he adds. After exchanging phone numbers, we depart for one another and return to our homes.

 Reaching my destination, I see that I am too late to deliver my news as Dojima is already home on the couch. “Oh, hello, Dojima-san.” He looks up from the newspaper he was previously reading to face me.

“Oh, I was waiting for you to get back.” _Waiting? For what exactly?_ Nanako, who is currently sitting at the table, looks just as confused as me. “I think I can probably get the fourth and fifth off,” he announces.

“Really!?” Nanako cheers before her energy deflates. “Really?”

“Yeah, of course. Do you not believe me?”

“But it’s always canceled…”

“No, n-not every time.” He takes a deep breath. “Listen, I promised you a trip and I’m going to deliver.”

Light beams in the little girl’s eyes. “Wait, we’re really going on a trip? Yay!”

“Alright, first things first we need to decide on a place to go.” He turns to me. “You still wanna come with us?”

_Well, he got upset last time when I declined, so…_ “Yes, I would enjoy such a trip.”

“Yay, we’re all going together!” _Nanako-chan seems quite pleases by this turn of events. I’m glad. She hasn’t smiled much since my arrival._

“Well, I will leave the destination up to the both of you. I don’t know this area very well, so I can hardly pick a place. It’s not like I would likely have any particular preference anyway.”

“Come on, I doubt you get to go on many trips like this when it isn’t for work. You should get some say in it,” Dojima offers.

“No, as I said, I have no preference. Though what you said about me not taking many trips is true, it works against your argument. Because I don’t, I will be perfectly happy with any destination. Also, I am quite tired. I wish to return to my room and rest.”

“Alright, fine. If you’re tired, you can sleep. We’ll come up with a few options and you can decide later. Deal?”

“Understood.” On that note, I depart from them and go to my room. Not actually tired, as my excuse to allow them to pick a location claims, I stay up for quite a bit longer reading before finally going to sleep.

The next day, I vow to do something other than stay in the house. _Every day I have had off that I didn’t spend in the TV, I have spent here. I need to break this trend immediately. How could I possibly improve socially if I hide from all social interaction?_

Changing into a bright blue shirt and yellow tie, I opt to skip breakfast and go directly out the door. _Now, where shall I go? I shouldn’t call upon any of the others; they may be busy. Also, I have nowhere to take them. I suppose a trip to the bookstore should suffice for the time being._

Taking my own suggestion, I walk to the shopping district. Before I have the chance to enter the bookstore, a familiar voice comes from farther down the road. “Hey, where have you been!?” it calls out. I turn around to see Marie running towards me, looking annoyed. “You promised me you’d take me places and it so far you haven’t even talked to me once. I want to go somewhere.”

“O-okay, then…” _This is quite sudden. In any case, it is something to do._ “I agree to your terms. Where is it you would like to go?”

“I don’t know. You’re the one who’s supposed to be taking me places.” _She has a good point._

Before I can respond, my phone rings. “Oh, will you excuse me for a moment?” I check my caller to see that it is Chie. I quickly answer it. “Hello, Chie-senpai. I wasn’t expecting a call today.”

“Hey, Naoto-kun. I need to go to Junes to get some stuff. You wanna come?”

“Oh, um…” _I can’t exactly leave Marie here._ “I’m not sure if I’m available at the moment.  I’m currently with an acquaintance of mine.”

“Wait, Junes?” Marie asks behind me. _How is it she can here our conversation?_ “I’ve heard people talk about that place. I want to go there.”

“Would it be alright if I take her with me?” I continue.

“Oh, yeah, of course. I’ll meet you over there.” A loud beep rings in my ears, indicating that she hung up the phone. I turn back around to face Marie.

“We should get going. I wouldn’t want to keep her waiting. Follow me.”

“Yeah, whatever.” She moves to my side as we walk together. “Why did you lie about me to that guy I met least time?” she asks after showing clear signs of hesitation. “Where did you say I was from? A-mar-ric-ca? That’s a weird word.”

“I lied because it is a much similar explanation for you existence and our meeting. They have no knowledge of the Velvet Room’s existence and that is how I would like it to remain.” I pause for a second. “And it’s just America. You can also refer to is as USA or the United States if it’s simpler to pronounce. That might actually make it more believable.”

“Huh, I see.” She remains silent the rest of the way, as do I. It doesn’t take us long to reach our destination, we realize, as a green figure appears in the distance.

“Oh, there she is.” My walk converts into a slight job as my target becomes close. “Good morning, Chie-senpai.”

“Hey, Naoto-kun. Glad you could make it.” She glances over my shoulder. “Ooh, who’s this?” I introduce the two to each other. “Ah, Marie-chan. That’s a cute name. Nice to meet you!”

“Oh, um… You too.” Noticing the velvet room residence’s hesitance, Chie flashed her a cheerful smile, as if to calm her down. It seems to work, as Marie’s muscles relax as we enter the store.

“So, Chie-senpai, what is it you have come here for?” I ask.

“There’s a sale going on for salad dressing so my parents asked me to get some. I also wanted to check out the TV’s again. I didn’t exactly get to look very much last time.”

“’Sallah drezzing’?” Marie mumbles to herself. _Does she not know what that is? In any case, I hope Chie-senpai didn’t hear that._

It soon becomes apparent that she either did not or just has no intention of questioning it. It doesn’t take long for us to grab some dressing and head over to the electronics. Televisions in sight, Marie runs up to them. “I know what this is,” she declares.

“Of course you do; it’s a TV,” Chie says, sounding both cheerful and confused at the same time. I quickly signal Chie to drop the topic. _I don’t know what conclusion is coming to her mind by me doing this, but it must be better than any answer Marie would give._ “Oh, um… Anyway, I need to find a TV.” As she walks past closer to the screens, Marie continues to look at one of them in confusion.

“Can we turn it to ‘StarScandalz’?” She asks, turning her head to me.

“StarScandalz?” I question in response. _I’m not exactly aware of what that is, but by the title I can already tell it’s not a program I would enjoy._

“It’s… um…. You know, a show where they talk about things. One girl is like ‘Blah de Blah blah,’ and then the other is like “Blah de blah de blah.’ Margaret told me about it.” The girl seems somehow proud of her knowledge. “I want to watch it, but The Nose won’t let me get one in the room.”

Chie silently mouths the last to words to herself, as if attempting to find any sense in them whatsoever. “Wow, you must have really strict parents. I would die after one day without Kung-Fu movies.” _One day... She watches one every day!? I don’t even know if there are enough in the world for that._

“I can’t get one anyway,” the velvet room resident continues. “We don’t have any ‘eclectic loutwits’ in there. I’ll need to get one.” Marie abruptly walks away from us.

“Hey, wait!” Chie calls as we chase after her. “What don’t even have electricity!?”

With that brief blow up out of the way, we head down to the food court to eat. “Yes! They finally got grilled steak here!” Chie cheers upon our arrival. “Come on, let’s get some.” For the first time since my arrival, someone just bought their own food without either having me pay or pay for me. Of course, I still need to order for Marie.

It doesn’t take long for our food to be ready. Seconds after we sit down, Chie is already attacking her meal. After staring for a second, I begin eating my meal at a timely pace. Before I am even 1/8th of the way done, Chie takes her last bite. “Whew, that was amazing.” Marie and I simultaneously give her an odd look. _How can one eat so quickly? I am aware of the fact that I tend to be a slow eater, but still…_ “Wait, you two have barely eaten anything. Are you alright?”

“I believe I could very well ask you the same…” I respond.

“You shouldn’t eat that fast. Margaret says that that’s how you get fat,” Marie quite wrongfully adds. I give her a look, trying to inform her of her mistake.

“Jeez, you didn’t need to go that far…” She sounds hurt. _I should say something._

“It’s okay, senpai. Even if you do eat a lot, the amount of exercise you do more than makes up for it. If anything, I’m sure your body needs the extra protein.” The girl smiles at me.

“Thanks, Naoto-kun.” She looks down in embarrassment. “I’ll get us some drinks!” She shoots out of her chair and races off towards the counter. _It looks as if we are back to everyone paying for me. I guess_ there is point to me fighting it anymore.

“Why are there so many people here? Isn’t there anything better to do? It they have TVs, they should watching them instead of wasting their time here.” _That is possibly the most ironic thing I have ever heard._

“After a while, people get tired of doing the same thing. People can’t spend their entire life doing one thing; they could very possibly go mad.”

“Oh… right…” Behind our heads we heard a mother and son talking. The son says something about a soda, while the elder refuses. Marie looks at them for minute before turning back to be. “Was I ever like that?”

“Do you mean a kid? I would imagine so. Then again, I don’t know how reproduction works in your world. Do you not remember?”

“I don’t really remember anything. All I remember is walking around for a while before somehow ending up in that car. They just told me to stay there, so I did. Margaret also gave me my name. She said it would make communication a lot easier.”

“Wow, I had no idea you are in such a situation. I can’t imagine it’s very easy.”

“What are you talking about? I’m fine. I don’t need memories.” _You may say that, but your face clearly says otherwise._ “I don’t know why, but I feel comfortable in this town. Maybe I lived here.”

“That would be a possibility. Is there anything else?”

“No, not really…” She hesitates before tentatively reaching into her bag and pulling something out. It’s an old bamboo comb. “This has always been with me. I know it’s mine. Still I don’t know anything about it.”

“Mind if I take a look?” I ask.

“Oh, sure.” Taking it into my hand, I can certainly feel its age. _This could very well be hundreds of years old. Possibly a family heirloom? I don’t know much about this kind of stuff. Even so, it is certainly real bamboo. It would be hard to come by nowadays._ I hand it back to her.

“Do you have any idea how it came into your possession?”

“How should I know? It was just there.”

Pulling our conversation to a halt, a voice comes from behind us. “Sorry I took so long,” the voice belonging to Chie says. I look up at her and notice her struggling with all of our drinks. I quickly grab one that was dangerously close to falling. “Oh, thanks.” She looks a bit uncomfortable. “Is it just me, or did the mood just get really heavy over here? D-don’t worry, I payed for all of us. Oolong Tea for everybody!” She lets out an uneasy laugh.

On awkward conversation later, I say my goodbyes to Chie and take Marie back to the Velvet Room. After exploring the town a bit more and buying some books, I return home around sunset and sleep about an hour later.

A large portion of the next day occurs about like one would expect. A majority of the class is too excited to the time off to pay any attention to what the teachers were saying. As a result, most of the teachers gave up entirely and began telling personal stories. Mr. Morooka was not one of them. He spent about half of the period lecturing us about responsibility and wasting time, a topic I found quite ironic at the time.

After school is just as chaotic, if not even more so, as all of the students rush out of the classroom immediately after the bell rings. I pack up at my normal rate, leading to the room being almost barren by the time I am ready to leave. Scanning the room, I find only one student left, Aoto Sugimoto. He walks over to me in a less threatening manner than before. “Hey, I wanna talk to you,” he says/demands.

“That I could have figured out on my own. Is talking all you plan on doing this time? Our last meeting was not a very verbal one, as I am sure you can recall.”

“Yeah, whatever. You’re the one who started it.”

“Maybe so, but it was purely self-defense. In any case, what is it you request of me?”

“Well, midterms are text week, ya know? You’re supposed to be all smart and shit, so I was gonna have you help me. I always get a really low score and my parents told me they would ground me is I didn’t do better this time.”

“You wish for me to tutor you? That is a request you believe to be worthy of having yourself and two others physically assault me?”

“Hey, that was only ‘cause you hit me. I wasn’t about to be one-upped by a girl.”

“Then perhaps that will be your downfall. I have no intention of assisting a person who takes pride in harming others.”

“What!? I didn’t-”

“If you’d excuse me, I’ll be leaving now.” I walk past my fellow student without another word. _I can’t allow him to view me as an object for exploitation. Perhaps this will teach him to refrain from doing the same to others in the future._

Without much else to do, I return to the Dojima residence and read my new book. When it is around the time for dinner, I walk downstairs to find Nanako watching the news of all things. “A reportedly stolen earth mover was used earlier today to destroy an Inaba Credit Union ATM, and all of the cash inside was subsequently stolen,” the news anchor reports. “Due to the culprit’s quick getaway, the police have no suspects at this time.”

Nanako looks back down at the table and sighs. “Dad’s late again,” she mumbles to herself. As if on cue, the home phone rings.

“I’ll get it,” I say before answering the call. “Hello, Dojima Residence.”

“Hey, it’s me,” Dojima says on the other end. _Please tell me this call doesn’t mean what think it means._ “Um… about me getting time off on the 4 th and 5th… One of the other guys got sick, so they want me to cover for him. Could you tell Nanako for me?” I look over at the little girl. It quickly becomes apparent that there is no need for me to say anything as she stands and runs to her room.

“I think she already knows.”

“Oh… I’m really sorry about this.”

“There’s no need to worry on my behalf. I completely understand.”

“Right, thanks. Could you check in on Nanako for me?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Thank you. I’ll try to make it up to the two of you later. See ya.” He hangs up. _I should make sure poor Nanako-chan is alright._

Entering the girl’s room for the first time, one observation comes quickly to mind; there is a lot of pink in here. Nearly everything in the room is pink: the walls, the comforter, and even the TV stand. The walks are covered in posters, ranging from Detective Loveline to Phoenix Ranger Featherman R. This train of thought doesn’t last very long, however, as my brain quickly switches gears to the figure completely hidden my bed sheets (with are also pink).

“Are you alright, Nanako-chan?” I ask as soothingly as possible. Her hear quickly emerges from the pink sea.

“I’m fine. I just wish we didn’t always have to cancel this every year. It sucks.”

“I can empathize with that.” I sit down next to her. “With my grandpa being a detective, I didn’t get to see him as much as I would have liked to. Of course, he would always spend as much time with me as he could. Even so, it was quite lonely. I didn’t go to school for a while, so I’ve never really had any friends. Still, I could never bring myself to blame anyone for my troubles. I know that grandpa didn’t want to leave me alone all the time, and that no matter what he would always be here for me. I’m positive your father is the same way. It may be hard now, but it will get easier.”

A smile forms on the little girl’s face. She sits up and hugs me roughly around the waste. “Thank you!”

After who knows how long, she finally pulls away before flashing me another smile. “I know you want to go on a real trip, but would Junes suffice for now? I could take you tomorrow if you wish.”

Her smile widens. “Yay!” Her cheerful demeanor is enough to make anyone smile, including myself.

“Okay, then it’s settled. We will go tomorrow. Until then, I believe it is your bedtime. You should sleep.”

“Okay!” She flops back down onto her pillow. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Nanako-chan.” I give her one more smile before exiting the room and going to sleep myself.

The next morning, I wake up quite early.  I quickly change into my regular clothes and go downstairs. Reaching my destination, I learn that Nanako is also wake and dressed. “Good morning. I hope you slept well,” I greet her.

“Oh, you’re awake!”

“Yes, I am. Would you like to go to Junes now, or do you wish to go later in the day? If we go right now, then we could eat breakfast in the food court.”

“Yay, let’s go!” With Nanako as happy as she is, I couldn’t waste any time getting her to her favorite place. _I still find it odd that a little girl’s favorite place to go could be a department store._ Reaching the location, I take her immediately to the roof where the food court is located. Once we are there, I am surprised to see three familiar faces.

“Oh, hey, Naoto-kun,” Yosuke calls out to me from a table also seating Chie and Yukiko.

“Hello, Senpai.” I walk in their direction with Nanako following close behind me.

“Ooh, who’s this?” Yukiko asks, gesturing to the girl behind me.

“This is Nanako, Dojima-san’s daughter,” I introduce her.

“Aww, she’s so cute,” Chie say while smiling at the little girl. Yukiko gives a similar look. Nanako seems to enjoy the attention. “C’mon, sit down.” We follow her order.

“Why’d you bring here during Golden Week?” Yosuke asks.

“It’s okay, I love Junes!” Nanako speaks for the first time in a bubbly voice. “But we were supposed to go on a real trip somewhere…” The bubbles waste no time before  dying down.

“Her father was supposed to take a few days off, but he had to cancel,” I explain. “I decided to take her here in an attempt to make up for it.”

“Wow, aren’t you a good person, _big sis_ ,” Chie says in a semi-mocking tone.

“What? I’m not-” I attempt to correct her.

“Big… Sis…” I hear Nanako whisper to herself. 

“Anyway,” the green-clad girl continues, “were you guys planning to bring box lunches?  My family always does that when we go on trips. I never make them, but I’m sure I could. You should ask me next time. I could hook you up; easy as pie.”

“No no no, don’t do that!” Yosuke cuts in.

“What, do you think you could do any better? Let’s have a cook off and see.”

“Hey, I never said I could cook! Still, I’m pretty sure I’d win anyway.” At his words, Yukiko, who has been sitting beside me, starts cracking up.  Yosuke and I give an odd look.

“Wow, I never expected her to have one of her laugh attacks around anyone but me.” We turn our heads to face Chie. “She’s do this sometimes. Just ignore her.”

Yosuke does so as he moves his gaze to the little girl who has yet to say a word for a while.  “Hey, if we do have a cook off, you could be our judge. Who knows, we may even rank up next to you mom’s cooking.” I quickly signal him to stop. Sadly, to damage is done.

“I don’t have a mom. She died in an accident.” The girl response in a calm manner, but the sadness on her face does not go unnoticed.

“Oh, um… Sorry, I-I had no idea.”

“It’s okay!” Her smile has returned. “I still have dad with me. And now I have a sister, too!” She grabs my arm as she finishes the sentence. “I’m also having fun right now. I love Junes!” _I’m a sister now… This is a turn of events I never expected upon my arrival in this town._  

“Hey, we’ll play with you anytime, too,” Yukiko promises.

“Here, let’s get you a soda!” Yosuke stands up.

“Okay!” The two of them walk away.

“You know,” Chie says, “I think I’ll get her something, too.”

“Yeah, me too.” Before I know it, I am the only one remaining at the table. _And here I am thinking I would be the one paying for her. It was foolish of me to assume something like that would happen in this town._

Standing up myself, I see a small figure running back to me. “Do you want anything?” she asks.

“Yes, but I think I can manage paying for myself. Thank you.” She gives me a nice smile. _Nanako-chan is certainly stronger than she may appear on first glance. I feel as if I know her better now._ As if on cue, a voice rings in my mind.

_Thou art I… And I am thou…_

_Thou hast established a new bond…_

_It brings thee closer to the truth…_

_Thou shalt be blesses when creating_

_Personas of the Justice Arcana…_

_Ah, a new social link. If I had one with Dojima-san, it only makes sense for me to have one with her as well._ Once my long day with Nanako and my friends has concluded, we return home late in the evening. Working in some time to study, I finally lie down on my futon and sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

 The next day, Golden Week continues with Greenery Day. The first half of the day is extremely uneventful. While eating lunch with Nanako, however, a violent ring erupts from my pocket. “Please excuse me for a moment, Nanako-chan.” I quickly answer the incoming call. “Naoto Shirogane speaking.”

“Oh, hey, Naoto-kun,” the voice I recognize as Chie’s says. “I know it’s a bit sudden, but I was wondering if you wanna come to the floodplains today and train with me for a bit. I would ask Yukiko, but she’s busy at the inn. She isn’t really into this stuff, anyway.”

“Exactly what is it we’re training for?”

“I don’t know. Everything I guess. I do laps around here every day when I can. Gotta keep my strength up, you know?”

“Oh, well, um… You see, I don’t exercise very much,” _if by not very much I mean not at all,_ “ so I can’t be certain that I will be capable of matching your current skill level in this situation.”

“Oh, that’s fine. If you don’t run a lot, now’s a great time to start. We need to keep our strength up for fighting shadows.”

“Well, I suppose it is hard to argue against that logic…”

“Great, I’ll meet you there in a bit!” She hangs up the moment the last word is said. I put my phone away and turn back to face Nanako.

“Who was it?” she asks.

“That was Chie. You met her yesterday.”

“Oh, yeah. She was nice.” _I’m fairly certain anyone would say that about a person who bought them a soda._

“She proposed that I train with her today at Samegawa Floodplain. Are you going to be alright on your own for a little while?”

“Yeah, I’m going over to Miwa-chan’s house soon. We’re gonna watch the new episode of Detective Loveline.” _Miwa-chan. This is a person I have never heard of. Is it okay for me to allow her to go? No, I should leave it alone. Nanako-chan is a good kid; I can trust her to not do anything she isn’t supposed to. Dojima-san does seem to trust her quite a lot._

“Well, I suppose I should leave now if I don’t wish to keep her waiting.”

“Okay, goodbye.” With that, I am on my way. It takes only a few minutes for me to reach the floodplains. I quickly spot Chie over by a bench.

“Hey! Naoto-kun!” she calls me over. “Ready to go?”

“I suppose so, but I still am not entirely certain what is expected of me here.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she assures me with a slight chuckle. “It’s just a bit of running, no big deal. So, do you wanna run now or stretch first?”

“Wouldn’t stretching be mandatory? That is, if we do not wish to be sore tomorrow.”

“Yeah, well, I guess that’s true. It’s kinda boring, though, so I tend to just skip it. Anyway, do you need any help?”

“I believe I can handle stretching without assistance, thank you.” I reach down and swiftly touch my toes without any difficulty.

“Alright, well I guess that’s what I get for doubting you.” The two of us separately do a variety of stretches without saying a word to one another. _Though I do enjoy the silence, I cannot imagine Chie-senpai feels the same way._

Knowing this, I decide to make an attempt at starting a conversation. “Do you have any other plans for the remainder of the break?”

“No, not really. My parents work a lot, so we don’t tend to go on many trips.” Silence fills the air for a few seconds before she speaks once more. “How about you? You got any plans?”

“No, with Dojima-san working, there are not very many options for me to choose from.”

“Yeah, I can understand that.” More silence comes as neither of us know how to continue on the conversation. _This shouldn’t come as a surprise to me. Though I suppose my social skills have improved, I have yet to reach the level of skill that would allow me to make proper small talk. This is my fault. She must regret inviting me._

As we stretch a little while longer, a sudden scream comes from my friend. “Ahhhh!” My senses immediately heighten.  “Get it off! Get it off!” _Get what off…?_ I scan her trembling body for whatever it is she’s referring to. My eyes finally reach the grasshopper atop her shoulder. I quickly swipe it off.

“It’s gone now. Are you alright?” _Though I know it is quite a common fear, I would have never pegged her as a person who would have any sort of entomophobia, especially one of this caliber._

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry about that, I get a bit creeped out by bugs sometimes.” _Under exaggeration of the century…_

“It’s quite alright. There are plenty of other people who feel the same way. I can’t say I would react so strongly, but I wound most certainly not be comfortable with such a creature on my shoulder.”

“Ha, thanks. But still, I can’t be like that anymore.” I give her a questioning look. “After my shadow, I’ve started to think about what it said. You know, about how I kinda depend on Yukiko depending on me. I’ve decided that I’m done with that. From now on, I’ll work hard to get stronger until I can stop relying on others like that.”

“Well, that is a wonderful goal. Codependency is a hard to break out of, but it is certainly worth it.”

“Codependency… Is that what it’s called? Well, I guess I can rely on you to have a word for everything, smarty-pants. Anyway, I think that’s enough stretching. Ready to run?”

“As much as I’ll ever be. How long do you estimate we will be running for?”

“I don’t know, until one of us gets too tired, I guess. C’mon, let’s go!” Without warning, she darts past me. Breaking from my temporary daze, I run at max speed to reach her. Finally by her side, I only allow my pace to drop slightly to match hers. _She wants a training partner and I need to deliver. I will not allow my lower fitness to interfere with her training._

I work hard to match her speed as much as I can, cursing myself every time I fall behind, no matter how small the gap.  In doing so, I go way beyond my physical limit. _How long have we been running?  10? 20? 30? Has an entire hour passed without my knowledge? No matter, the time has no effect on my running. I just need to run. There is no way I will be a burden on her training. What did she call this, just a bit of money? No big deal? Is she insane?_

Nevertheless, the running continued until my legs could take no more abuse. My speed begins to decrease dramatically, reaching what one could barely call a jog. Chie is quick to notice and stops. “Are you okay?”  My body gives a cry of relief when I finally come to a stop, almost falling to my knees. This does not go unnoted. “Here, c’mon.” She comes to my side and pulls me over to a nearby bench. I gratefully sit down, letting out heavy breaths for my desperate lungs. Chie sits beside me. “Jeez, you didn’t need to push yourself that hard.”

“I-I didn’t want to hold you back, but I suppose I’m not as fit as I had previously imagined.”

“Are you kidding me!? You did awesome, especially for someone who doesn’t run much. We were running for a good 45 minutes and you didn’t fall behind once!”

_45 minutes, huh. It felt like an eternity._ “I’m sure it was more endurance than anything else, not exactly skill.”

“So, with endurance like that it doesn’t even really make a difference. Jeez, if I’d know I would have stopped a while ago. I guess I just wanted to see how long you could go.”

“45 minutes, evidently.”

“Nah, you probably could have gone longer if you picked the pace. I probably should have let you do that and follow it. Sorry.”

“No, Chie-senpai, you’re perfectly alright. But I will more than likely never do this again. Perhaps next time we could run for 10 minutes. I should have no difficulties maintaining your speed then.”

“Next time? You wanna do this again?” She sounds confused.

“I see no reason why not. If I am to be a member of the police force, I will need to be in top physical condition as well as mental.”

“Alright, great! We can come back here tomorrow morning while were still on break."

“Okay, that sounds reasonable. As of right now, I don’t believe by body could handle much more ‘training’. Why don’t we go elsewhere? With this amount of exercise, I’m sure both of our bodies are craving proper nurturance.”

“Right! C’mon, we both need meat! Let’s go to Aiya’s.” Launching into action, she quickly stands, pulling me up by my arm. Without losing her grip, see pulls me alongside her.As she does so, a voice speaks in my head.

_Thou art I… And I am thou…_

_Thou hast established a new bond…_

_It brings thee closer to the truth…_

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating_

_Personas of the Chariot Arcana_

_Ah, here we go again, I suppose._

We don’t make it very far on our way to Aiya’s before a voice interrupts us. “Chie? Figures I’d see you up here,” it says. The girl dragging me stops abruptly before turning to face the speaker. 

“Takeshi? What do you mean…? And what are you doing here, anyway!?” _How strange, her behavior is both angry and friendly simultaneously. I didn’t know that was even possible._

“Dude, I was just walking by and wanted to talk.” His gaze moves from Chie to me as I make every attempt to say out of the conversation. “So, you get a new training buddy?” he asks, obviously aiming the question at Chie though his eyes never left me.

“N-No, not really. This is the first time we’ve really done this.”

“Really? I would expect you to be up here all the time. What happened to you being ‘king of the hill’ or whatever you used to call yourself?”

“W-What!? I was never…” She cuts herself off.  Her voice is higher than it was previously, a feat I didn’t even know was possible. 

“What, trying not to embarrass yourself in front of your new friend?” Chie’s eyes fall to the ground.

“Perhaps you should be a little less rude when addressing a friend of yours,” I say, viewing it necessary to put an end to his mockery.

“What!? N-No, I didn’t mean it like that…! Sorry.” He walks past my friend in order to get closer to me. “I’m Takeshi Kouno. I’ve known Chie and Yukiko since middle school. Speaking of which…” he turns back to Chie, “how has she been? She got a boyfriend yet?”

“No! And she doesn’t need one, either,” she responds, sounding more aggressive than usual.

“Fine, fine. Jeez, what’s with you today? I just wanted to know if she’s available. Hey, maybe I should try her again.” It’s not hard to notice Chie’s anger rising, but she withholds any comments that enter her head. “Anyway, I should go now. See ya later!” Right hand in his pocket, he walks up the stairs and out of the floodplains.

“He most certainly went out of line with his final comments,” I break the silence.

“Yeah, can be a bit rude sometimes… Or most of the time. I mean… I think he means well, but he’s defiantly pushed more than a few buttons, especially with Yukiko. He’s always staring at her. I’m sure he means nothing by it, but so many people look at her like that, like she’s some sort of prize. I decided a long time ago to protect her from those sickos. But, like I said, he didn’t mean any harm. We were all friends, but I guess we just drifted apart.” She looks back up to the stairs. “We should go to Aiya’s now, I’m starving.”

After showing my agreement, we quick journey to Inaba’s only Ramon shop. Reaching our destination, I am surprised to see multiple police officers in front of the restaurant. I half jog over to them with Chie close behind. “Is everything alright, officers?” I ask them. They all turn to me.

“Sorry, kids, but we shouldn’t-” one starts before being cut off by another.

“Wait, hold up, they might know something,” he says.

“Alright, fine,” the original speaker says scornfully. “Lately, there have been a bunch of reports about bullying in this area. Do you two just so happen know anything?”

“Bullying!?” Chie asks obviously angered.

“No, sir,” I respond calmly. “Do you happen to have any suspects? If so, I may be able to provide some assistance.”

“Assistance? From you?” the second cop questions. “No way, kid. Just leave this to the professionals.” They walk away before I can respond. My friend makes an attempt to chase after them, but I stop her.

“No, there is no need to further interrupt their investigation. I feel no need to defend my pride over something as insignificant as bullying.”

“Insignificant!” she rages. “How could you think bullying isn’t worth your time!? Really strong people ganging up on the weak, it’s so wrong! They’re such cowards!”

“Oh, um… I apologize, I had no idea you felt so strongly about the subject. It was rude of me to say such things.” _Damn it! I’ve been doing so well recently and I just had to mess it up._

“No, I get it, you didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… I hate people like that. They hurt others just to feel stronger, it’s sick!” She curls her hands into fits. “C’mon, we need to find this guy so I can give him a piece of my mind!” She attempts to walk away again before I grab her arm once more.

“No, there is no purpose for us wandering aimlessly without any leads. Though I do agree to help you, I believe our health is more important. You did say you were starving before, correct?”

“Oh, right! We need meat! C’mon, let’s eat!” She pulls me into Aiya’s by my arm. The two of us eat our meals rather quickly, both feeling rather starved. As a beautiful sunset signals the end of the day, we each go to our respective homes.

The next morning I meet up with her once again in the shopping district. We exchange pleasantries before wandering around the shops, asking civilians what they knew. To our dismay, most had no idea what we were talking about and the ones who did only knew of rumors. It didn’t take long for us to give up and go get some steak skewers. On our way there, however, we hear a loud voice coming from behind one of the shops.

“S-Stop it!” it calls.

“Shut it, dumbass!” says a threating voice. “You know what we came for, so cough it up!” After sharing a quick glance, Chie and I run between the stores. Just beyond the corner, we are met with three familiar people.

“Takeshi!?” Chie shouts as she runs to protect him from two bullies.

“Oh, would you look at that: two more bitches with money to take!” Takeshi cowards behind Chie.

“What, gonna hide behind a girl?” the other taunts.

“Are you alright, sir?” I ask Chie’s friend.

“I-I’m fine.” He hesitantly looks over Chie’s shoulder at the punks. “I’ll let you two handle this.” Without warning, he fleas from the scene.

“What the-!?” Chie asks astonished.

“Whatever, we already got his money,” one of the muggers says. “Speaking of which…” The two step closer to us. “I’m guessing you both have some money on ya.”

“Cough it up!” the other orders.

“Like hell I’m gonna listen to coward like you! Ganging up on the weak like that, what the hell is wrong with you!?”

“What the hell, bitch!? You wanna fight? Fine, I ain’t afraid to hit a girl!”

“Well I ain’t afraid of you!” Chie attempts to charge them, but I hold her back. “Naoto, what are you doing!?”

“Chie-senpai, please, control yourself!” I order her.

“Ha, maybe you ain’t afraid to fight, but it looks like your pussy friend is,” the bully jokes.

“Believe me, I am not acting out of fear. I am only attempting to reason with you. If you give us the money you stole from that man and leave us alone, we will not inform the police of this incident.”

“Oh no, a girl who looks barely strong enough to lift a pencil is threating us, what do we do!?” the guy asks jokingly. It is at this moment I reveal the gun I had been hiding in my jacket.

“I must suggest you refrain from underestimating me from this point forward.” The two freeze for a second before throwing their hand up. “Good, now please hand over the stolen money so we may be on our way.”

“R-Right, of course.” One hands me 1,000 yen before they both take off.

“Why’d you have to but in like that!?” Chie asks me as I watch them run.

“There was no need for us to make our exchange physical,” I respond.

“What, you don’t think I could take them!?”

“No, of course not, I was only trying to find the safest option. I’m sure you would have done well without my help.” As smile forms as the words leave my mouth.

“Thanks… And sorry. I just rushed in without thinking and cause us trouble.”

“No, not necessarily. I had expected something like this to happen, hence why I brought my gun. You also assisted in helping an old friend.”

“Yeah, speaking of him, where did he go?”

“Yes, we need to go return his money to him.”

After searching for a while, we reach the floodplains “There he is!” Chie spots him on the stairs. “C’mon, Naoto-kun!”

“Ch-Chie!” he mumbles, noticing our presence

“Why did you leave before?” I ask him.

“Yeah, sorry about that… I just figured Chie was good at this stuff and didn’t want to get in the way, that’s all.”

“That’s all!?” Chie exclaims. “Come on! We both know you ran away, so why don’t you just admit it!?”

“Whoa, jeez, when did you get so uptight? What happened you your bubbly attitude? Without it, you don’t really have much else.”

“Hey!” Chie shouts angrily.

“You shouldn’t speak ill of the person who just saved you less than a ten minutes ago,” I advise him.

“Anyway, what’s Yukiko up to?” He asks, ignoring me entirely. “I saw her before talking to this one dude wearing headphones. She was acting really happy, had this stupid laugh, too.”

“Stupid laugh!?” Chie sounds ready to kill him. “Well, curse her for being happy for once! Jeez, what’s wrong with you!?”

“What’s wrong with me? Dude, you should be asking Yukiko that. She was a lot better gloomy.”

“How dare you talk about Yukiko like that!?” It takes every bit of self-control in her body to stop her from charging at him. “Don’t you dare say anything like that ever again! She is finally coming out of her shell and THIS is the greeting she gets? No! She is a nice person and doesn’t need crap like that from people like you!”

“What!? All I’m saying is that-”

I pull out the yen in my pocket and shove it in front of him, cutting him off. “I suggest you take your money and leave.”

“Fine, whatever.” He rips the money out of my hand and walks away.

We are silent for a moment before Chie speaks. “When I first met Yukiko, she was sitting on these very steps, holding a dog. I asked her what’s up, and she told me she ran away from home. She found the dog, he was starving. She tried to take him home, but her parents wouldn’t let her keep him. She was crying, so I did everything I could to make her laugh. From that moment forward, I promised to protect her, and to hurt anyone who would dare make her cry. I became her protector, but that went to my head and formed my shadow. I need to be more than her protector, my own person. I tried to focus on my good points, you know, but I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“It’s as they say, ‘the first step is admitting you have a problem.’”

“Yeah, well, maybe half a step of me… Thanks.” Chie and I spend the rest of the day together before going home when it gets dark.

After the dreaded first day back to school was finally over, Chie and I decide to train again due to the fact that we were not able to do so the day before. We walk through the shopping district in order to reach the floodplains.

While on our way, we hear a young boy’s voice from besides on of the shops. “L-Leave me alone, please,” it says.

“Not ‘til we get what we came for!” says a familiar, rough voice.

“What!? Are those punks at it again!?” Chie asks before we both run into the minuscule alley.

“Oh no, it’s the two chicks from yesterday!” one of the bullies from yesterday exclaims.

“Hey, stop right there!” Chie darts in and shields the kid.

“Damn it, not this bitch again!” says the other bully.

“It’s your own fault. Robbing Takeshi was one thing, but now you’re doing it to a little kid!? How dare you!?” While Chie is distracting them, I pull out my phone to call the police.

“It’s not like we were gonna-”

“Hey, she’s callin’ the cops!” one of them notices. He runs at me and grabs the phone before I can finish dialing the number. He’s about to smash it before Chie grabs it and punches him in the face. “Jeez, bitch, the hell was that for!?”

“For trying to hurt my friend, that’s what!” She hands the phone back to me. “Finish calling the police, Naoto-kun.”

“Understood.” I quickly make the call and begin explaining the situation.

“Crap, that bitch was crazier than I thought,” the uninjured one says.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.” They try to escape, but Chie stops them.

“Oh, you aren’t going anywhere.”

“What’re you gonna do about it?”

“Yeah, I bet I could take a girl like you out in one punch!” they taunt her just as I finish my call.

“Fine then, prove it!” Chie taunts back. “Punch me; right here, right now.”

“Wait, what?”

“You heard me! Don’t be afraid, I won’t even hit back.”

“No, that’s insane!”

“C’mon, be a man!”

“No, where leaving.” They start walking away again before a deep voice comes from behind us.

“Stop right there!” it says. _Thank god, the police are here._ The rest of the day goes about how one would expect. The officers arrest the two muggers, question us and the boy, and leave with the punks in the backseat. They offered to take the crying boy home, but Chie insisted we take him. Along the way to his house, Chie does everything she can to make the kid feel better. Finally reaching the destination, the boy along with his mother thank us and we walk away under what is now the night sky.

“Was what I did before stupid?” She asks me out of the blue.

“What? No, of course not. You protected an innocent child. He may have been hurt if you hadn’t stepped in.”

“I guess you’re right. Thanks.” She pauses for a moment. “For some reason, I just felt like I needed to protect him; it felt like my duty. I don’t know why, but when I heard him scream for help, or when the jerk took your phone, my heart just started beating really fast. It’s still going right now.”

“Believe me, you are in no way wrong for feeling that way. That wasn’t you protecting someone to feel powerful, but because you are protective by nature. That is nothing to feel ashamed of.”

“Yeah, you’re right, as always. Still, it sucks that we didn’t get to train like we were supposed to.”

“We can always do so tomorrow.”

“Alright, cool. We’ll meet at the floodplains?”

And that we do. Directly after school the next day, we meet up and job for a little bit. With me keeping the pace, it was a surprisingly fun experience as well as relieving. We jog for approximately 30 minutes before sitting down for a break.

Chie is quiet for a moment before speaking. “I want you to have something.” She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a wristband. “I made it last night: one for you and one for me. It’s kinda my way of thanking you for putting up with me for the past few days. I know that I’ve kinda been a bit pushy, forcing you to help me catch the bullies and all.”

“Thank you for the gift, but I hardly find in necessary. You’ve done nothing wrong over the past few days. As a matter of fact, you’ve done more good in four days than some do in a year. You should be proud of your achievement.”

“Thanks, I guess you’re right… I think I’ve learned something to. I didn’t get this persona power to grow stronger and become more self-dependent, but to protect others. I don’t get a rush out of it because it makes me feel powerful, but because I know that I’m helping someone else.”

“Exactly, and that is a wonderful trait to possess. It’s a trait you would need in order to work in many professions: policemen, firefighters, doctors, solders, and any job that requires one to strive to protect others.”

“In the end, I never needed to change my ways, only embrace what I always have been. I will continue to protect Yukiko and everyone else in this town forever.”

Similarly to Yosuke’s persona, Chie’s appears right in front of us and transforms from its original form into more of a black knight, ready to defend Earth from all evil. “What is this, more power? Awesome, I can use it to protect others even better than before.” She smiles for a moment before continuing. “About what you said before, do you think I would be a good police officer? You should know, considering the fact that you work with them all the time.”

 “Well, it’s as I said, you share a trait necessary to be an officer of the law. In my opinion, the police need more people like you. Though a protective trait is one many police officers have, most don’t and do their job for other reasons. I’ve meet many offices that do their job for the money and nothing else. It’s sickening to think that the lives of other are left in hands like that. But, in any case, you would do a wonderful job. Of course, you will run into many difficulties. With the police being a male-oriented society, it’s quite hard for a female to make it. It can take me months to get a department to take me seriously, and by then the case is almost over.”

“People are really like that!? Wow, that’s messed up.”

“Believe me, I feel the same way. Still, you mustn’t let that stop you. It’s my dream to become a well-respected detective and I refuse to let another’s ego stand in the way.”

“Yeah, let’s show them true girl power. And hey, who knows, maybe we’ll work on a case together someday.”

“Are we not already?”

“Oh yeah, right. We are kinda police officers, right? Saving the victims, solving the crime, finding the bad guy.”

“Yes, exactly. Still, I would love to work on a case with you for real someday.”

“Yeah, me too.” A voice enters my head.

_Thou art I… and I am thou…_

_Thou hast established a genuine bond…_

_These genuine bonds… shall be your_

_eyes to see the truth._

_We bestow upon thee the ability to_

_create_ _Futsunushi , the ultimate form_

_of the Chariot Arcana…_

 


End file.
